Full Circle
by Queen Amunet
Summary: Everything is what it isn't, and nothing is what it appears to be. A few members of the Seigaku tennis team have some secrets that could change everyone's lives. And what happens when a piece of Fuji's past that he thought was barried comes back...OOC
1. Intro

Hello, I am the author for Full Circle. I thank you very much for deciding to read my fanfic. Before I start the story, I would like to thank my friends for helping write this fanfic. And me beta reader who goes to school with me, she also helped with the DNAngel fanfic I wrote and posted last year.

Well that's it enjoy the story.


	2. Prolouge

Prince of Tennis

Prologue

It had been a long day. At school, everyone had taken tests in at least two classes. Tennis practice had gone well, so no one had had to run laps or drink any of Inui's juice. The entire Seigaku tennis team was currently headed home after spending some time at the Kawamura sushi shop. They were walking though a park that was on the fastest route home for all of them. Takashi was with them, walking part way with them just to spend more time with the tennis team before he left to go to culinary school after his year was done. Eiji was talking and gesturing wildly about something as Momo and Oishi listened, trying to get in a few words whenever Eiji stopped for breath. Momo was walking beside Ryoma, and the two walked behind the Golden Pair, ducking periodically to avoid Eiji's flailing arms. Kaido and Inui walked behind Momo and Ryoma, talking to Fuji, Takashi, and Tezuka. The group was about halfway through the park and about to turn a bend in the path when Fuji let out a yelp and bent down to rub his ankle. Everyone stopped to look at Fuji.

"You ok Fuji?" Eiji asked.

"Yeah," Fuji answered as he stood back up, "Just felt like something bit my ankle." The group walked on. Fuji fell back from the rest of the group and looked down at his hand. What he hadn't told them was that a dart had hit his ankle. He looked at the dart that he was holding in his hand and knew that he had to get home before whatever had hit him took effect. He put the dart in the pocket of his Regulars jacket and acted like nothing had happened. As the group rounded the bend, Fuji instantly knew that something was off.


	3. Chapter 1

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 1

Fuji knew in a heartbeat that something was wrong. It wasn't the fact that the trees had changed; no longer tame and neatly trimmed like he was used to, but like wild forest trees that had lived for a long time. Each one was different: rugged, deformed, special, unique. No, it wasn't the trees. Nor was it the fact that the lamps that lit either side of the park path had disappeared. Neither was it that the path was no longer concrete, but packed dirt and stones. It wasn't even the suddenly stormy, darkened weather with clouds that seemed ready to burst at any moment. No, it was the fact that he could feel her presence. Like a moth to a flame, he was drawn to her; unable to resist her charm. Spotting a dark grey stone on the path, he picked it up, tossing it lightly into the air, feeling its weight. Then, without warning, he threw it at –OW! He threw it at me. Apparently he didn't like the 'moth to a flame' comment, even though it was true.

"You want another?" Fuji asked. No.

"Fuji who are you talking to?" Eiji asked curiously.

"No one," Fuji answered. He caught up with the group. As they walked on, he turned around to give the writer a warning glare. I gave him the finger. He rolled his eyes and walked on staring openly at Tezuka's butt. Unknown to Fuji at that time, that would be one of the – THUNK! That tennis ball just came out of nowhere. Fuji, you're so mean; beating on a poor, underpaid, underappreciated writer. You just KNOW the world is coming to an end when your characters start beating up on you.

"First, you don't get paid for writing fan fiction. If you did, you would be breaking copyright laws. And second, none of us are your characters; we're Takeshi Konomi's characters."

All right, all right, all right. You guys belong to Konomi, the guy is a genius. But a girl can dream, can't she? Anyway, sorry, please ignore me, back to the story... Where was I? Oh, yes.

The dark gray storm clouds pressed down on the group; ready to unleash the water held with in. Tezuka fell to the back of the group to walk with Fuji as the rest of the group walked on.

"Where are we?" the captain asked him. Fuji looked at him, his smiling mask still in place.

"And what makes you think that I know?" Fuji asked softly. A flash of lighting and a roll of thunder in the distance set the music for the oncoming storm.

"You are far too relaxed. You're even more relaxed then you are at school," Tezuka commented quietly, his eyes studying the smiling face next to him. A few fat raindrops hit the ground, turning the dirt to mud.

"You should watch where you're going. If you don't, you might fall," Fuji said, deliberately walking away without answering Tezuka's question. Then, without warning, a flash of lightning ripped out across the sky. Fuji let out a girlish scream... and is now threatening me with a knife. Where did you get that thing anyway? Fuji continued to stare at me, unblinking. Never mind, it doesn't matter...

The clouds opened, unleashing their gift of water to the parched earth. Everything was drenched in a matter of seconds. The wind picked up quickly, whipping random stuff around chaotically as dripping cloth pressed flat against hard muscular bodies. Fuji, leading the way, ran up the path. When he crested the hill, about two hundred feet away from him stood a huge, old stone castle. They paused; staring for a moment, they then took off running towards the giant double doors. Momo reached the door first and started pounding: No answer. Fuji arrived next, gently pushing Momo out of the way. He tried first one doorknob, then the other; the second turning easily under his hand. Pushing the door open, Fuji led the group inside.

Once everyone had filed in, Oishi shut the door. The sound and light of the storm became muted. The sudden change in atmosphere startled the group, causing them to stop and take in their surroundings. The wind was now howling only faintly, and the shadowed space was lit only by the flashes of lightning seen through the windows. The double doors they had just used were huge, each one about four feet wide and fifteen feet tall. Two great windows flanked the entrance, showing the world outside. The bottoms of the windows started about waist high, and the tops towered over the doors by about two feet. The tops of the windows were curved and had three panes of glass in each.

Fuji toed his shoes off and took a step into the front hall, onto the black and white tiled floor. The room was huge. Along the back wall of the room was an elevated walkway with two doors at either end. Two staircases led to the ground level, one on each side of the room. Between the two staircases and under the balcony was a single door, leading through the back wall to another room. The stairs were marble; the railings twisting, metal vines that ran up both sides of the staircases, across the balcony, and down the other stair. On ground level, off to the right, was a door that seemed to lead to what looked like a family room. A couch and chair could be seen through the door. On the left was another door that was closed. Eiji walked over to one of the windows and stood there, watching the storm. All of a sudden, he let out an unholy shriek and fell to the floor. A sound followed, as though something had hit the window. Everyone turned to look, and there, pressed up against the window, was a tree branch.

"It's all right. There are very few things that can get through those windows. I guess the storm outside explains what you are doing inside," said a voice from behind the group. Standing in the middle of the walkway was a girl that looked to be in her late teens. "Though I thought it was customary to knock before entering someone's home."

She turned and walked down the right flight of stairs. A flash of lighting lit the room, glinting off the ring on her right hand. The ring was a rose, framed with vines that reached up to wrap around her wrist. Her black hair was tied back to form a bun at the base of her neck. The light blue, floor-length dress swished softly as she walked down the stairs, her sensible shoes clicking softly against the floor as she reached the first level. She stopped and looked over the group, taking in their dripping and ragged appearance. She stood with her hands in front of her, her right resting over her left, her wedding ring shining through the fingers of her right hand as though lit from within. Almost the whole group felt out of place in the presence of such a beautiful young lady, and lowered their eyes when she looked at them.

"A hot drink would do you all some good, and then a nice warm fire to sit by and dry off. Then you all need a good night's rest, I think," she said, walking to the door of the family room. When she reached the doorway, she turned around to look at them. They still stood by the door.

"Come along then," she said. They followed after removing their shoes. In the next room they found a fireplace, a mantle with pictures on it, five more huge windows, three couches, six recliners, and six end tables. The room was dark like the front hall; the only source of light coming from the windows and entryway. The girl walked through the room and over to the fireplace. Before she was even half way across the room, another voice stopped her.

"Himeko, I would appreciate it if you would alert me whenever visitors arrive. It is highly improper for the lady of the house to neglect her duties." Fuji jumped behind Tezuka as he heard that voice; oh he knew he had to get out of there. But the question was how… if he didn't want her to notice him.

"The lady of the house is me, and you have always neglected your duties," said the girl, now identified as Himeko.

"I have not, but I think it is time for you to go. And like all ghosts, you can't stick around in the light, so bye-bye." The lights flipped on, and Himeko disappeared with a whispered 'Not fair' echoing about the room. Standing on the other side of the room by another door was a teenage girl, looking to be around sixteen or seventeen. She wore a pair of jeans and a light blue shirt, her black hair pulled back in a pony tail to reveal her face. Her hazel eyes regarded the rag-tag group that stood dripping in her family room.

"I'm sorry about that. Himeko has not yet accepted that she is a ghost. But all castles must have their share of spooks. Oh dear, I seem to have forgotten my manners. My name is Jin. And you are?"

"I'm Kunimitsu Tezuka, caption of the Seigaku tennis team, that's Shuichiro Oishi, vice-caption…" Oishi smiled and nodded, "Ryoma Echizen…" Ryoma seemed to be interested in the floor, but was actually asleep, "Takashi Kawamura-"

"You can call me Takashi," he interrupted, smiling shyly at Jin. She smiled back, nodding.

"Sadaharu Inui…" Tezuka continued, Inui busily writing in his note book, "Takeshi Momoshiro…"

"You can call me Momo," he said.

"Kaoru Kaido…" Kaido hissed and looked elsewhere, "that's –"

"HI! I'm Eiji Kikumaru! You can just call me Eiji, nya! How old are you, nya? Your really pretty, nya! Do you live here all by your self?"

"Eiji!" Oishi said as he grabbed him, wrapping a hand around his mouth. Eiji, not one to give up so easily, grabbed a hold of Oishi's wrist and tried to pull the hand off his mouth. "Sorry about that. He tends get…" Jin just laughed.

"It's all right. I have a family member very similar to him. Eiji, I'm seventeen years old, I thank you for the compliment, and no, I don't live here all by my self, my father and some other family members live with me. They're not here right now, though." Eiji smiled under the hand that was still wrapped around his mouth as he gave it one more tug and gave up.

"And this is Shusuke Fuji," Tezuka said as he sidestepping to reveal Fuji, who had stayed hidden up to this point. Fuji looked warily at Jin with a guarded look on his face.

"Hey, Jin," he said.


	4. Chapter 2

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 2

Jin just looked him over, then turned around and walked out of the room. Fuji rubbed the back of his neck.

"Do you two know each other?" Momo asked.

"She's more of an acquaintance," Fuji replied.

"You can call me what ever you want Fuji. But that does not change the fact that I can still beat your butt." Jin walked back in to the room carrying an arm full of towels. She handed one to each boy in the room except Ryoma; she just dropped his on his head. She dropped the last towel on Fuji's head and started drying off his hair.

"Ow - Jin! Hair - Ouch! It's still attached to head – Ow! Hey! Easy!"

"Are we sure about that?" Jin asked sweetly. Fuji squirmed out of her grasp and grabbed the towel out of her hand, glaring daggers at her. She just smiled sweetly and left the room again. Ryoma woke up and looked sleepily at the towel hanging off his head. Momo grabbed the towel and held it up in front of him.

"It's for drying yourself off," Momo said, as he took off Ryoma's hat to dry off his hair. Ryoma snatched back both his hat and the towel.

"Mada Mada Dane," Ryoma said, and started drying his own head. Jin came out a few moments later, carrying both a tray with nine mugs and one glass of amber liquid. She set the tray on an end table and handed the glass to Fuji. He took the glass and gave her a funny look.

"You either drink that now or you pay for it later. Take your pick," Jin said as she handed out the rest of the mugs. Fuji drank the liquid without question.

"You gave him alcohol?" Momo asked.

"No, I gave him ginger ale."

"Alcohol."

"No, it's a carbonated drink." She sat down on one of the couches with a mug of her own. As she was taking a drink, she seemed to remember something. She hopped up again and walked out of the room. They all looked at each other in confusion.

"Well, come on." Jin said as she poked her head back into the room. They followed her back out of the family room and into the front hall, up the stairs, through the door on the right, down a hall way full of doors, up another flight of stairs, down another hallway, up a fight of rotten, holey, wooden stairs, through a trap door, and finally into the attic.

"Just to warn you, it's a little dusty up here," Jin said, setting down her cup on a table to join the rest of the old nick-knacks that seemed to belong there. She walked over to an old steamer trunk and brushed the dust off of the top. The dust billowed up off of the trunk and swirled around in the air, causing Eiji to sneeze.

"Little is an understatement," Fuji said, as he too set down his glass and moved to help Jin lift the lid of the trunk. Inside the trunk, something blue-white and an itsy bitsy tiny piece of red caught Fuji's eye. He looked closer and noticed that it was a jacket with the word Sei–

"OW!" Fuji yanked his hand back as the lid closed with a click that told the latch had caught.

"Sorry, my hand slipped," Jin said, getting up and walking towards another trunk, "That was the wrong one; the one that has all of my mom's old dresses. I don't think you guys want to be running around in dresses for the rest of the day. Besides, I think they would only fit two of you." She looked at Ryoma and Eiji. She turned away, shrugged her shoulders, and sauntered over to the next trunk.

She opened it with little trouble and started digging through it. Fuji, meanwhile, was rubbing his hand where the lid of the trunk had caught it. Fuji knew that Jin didn't want him to see whatever it was that had been in that trunk. He just decided to let it go until later. Jin had made a pile of about five pairs of jeans, and was busily pulling random shirts out of the trunk, and holding them up to their prospective wearers. If they passed inspection, the shirts were laid over the open lid; if not, they were tossed to the side. Finally, when she had clothes for all of them, she carried the large pile down the stairs.

"Fuji! Be a dear and grab my cup for me!" Jin called up after she had reached the bottom.

"Why did she have us come?" Eiji asked to no one in particular. Fuji shrugged and picked up both glasses before following her down the rickety stairs. She walked on down to the hallway with all of the doors. She counted down to the door she was looking for, then stopped.

"Ah! Here it is." She opened the door with her hip and walked inside.

Through the door was a massive library. It was just like the library out of Beauty and the Beast; bookshelves reaching from floor to ceiling, wall to wall.

"Amunet, as much as I would love to have a library this size, I don't. Write it the way it really is." Jin scolded me as she set the cloths down on a table. Oh fine. You and Fuji are exactly the same, never let me have any fun.

"Don't you dare lump me in with that bastard," Jin commanded me as she picked a big heavy book up off a table.

"I agree." Fuji said.

"Who are you guys talking to?" Eiji asked.

"No one!" They answered simultaneously.

The library was a small and cozy one. It had three tables and about seven mismatched chairs, and a few floor-lamps situated to make it more comfortable to read. It also had a second level, with a bookshelf wrapping around the entire top level. The room had a scarlet and gold theme. The gentle light from the lamps flooded the room, giving everything a soft glow. Fuji was just turning to look at something on one of the shelves when Jin smashed her book into the back of his head. Fuji's head flew forward, slamming into the bookshelf in front of him. Gasps and strangled shouts were heard by the group standing in the door way.

"That was for the stunt you pulled in Fiji that nearly got me killed," She huffed, walking around to put the book away on its shelf. Fuji, holding his head, stumbled over to a chair and sat down. Oishi was the first to come out of shock, and rushed over to Fuji.

"Are you nuts? You could have given him a concussion!" Oishi yelled, glaring at Jin.

"Oh, he'll be fine. I didn't hit him that hard," Jin reassured him calmly. Fuji waved Oishi off, already tired of him hovering around like an upset humming bird.

"It's alright Oishi. She really didn't hit me that hard," Fuji confirmed, rubbing his forehead, wondering if it would leave a mark. Oishi backed off slightly, still not convinced that Fuji was alright. The others had begun to trickle in and wander around the room. Oishi looked back at Fuji, only to find him holding in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved black t-shirt.

"There are three showers on this floor that you guys can use. By the time you're all done I'll have a hot dinner ready for everyone," Jin told them as she continued her original activity of tossing clothes at people.

"Ummm…you sound as if you expect us to spend the night." Momo said.

"I don't expect you to spend the night; I know you'll spend the night. It's much too dangerous for you to leave in this weather. Look. Give me your home phone numbers and I'll call your parents while you're in the shower." She collected the numbers, showed them where the bathrooms were and went down stairs into the kitchen.

The kitchen was mostly stainless steel, but had three marble counters in the center of the room. She had three refrigerators and three freezers, one glass-topped stove, a wall mounted double oven, and many cabinets all over the place; all stainless steel. At the back of the kitchen there was a door that led to the outside, as well as a door that led up stairs, to the pantry, and also the door to the wine cellar. Jin dumped the phone numbers in a drawer and closed it with her hip. She dug her cell phone out of her pocket and speed-dialed a number. The phone on the other end rang twice before it was picked up.

"Hello," Said a smooth voice on the other end.

"'Ello, dear, I need some information," Jin said as she dug around on the counter.

"What kind of information do you need?" Jin picked up a knife and twirled it around in her hand.

"What ever you can give me," Jin said. She hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket. She threw the knife straight up in the air and caught the handle, the blade pointing at the floor.


	5. Chapter 3

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 3

Fuji stood in the shower and let the warm water run over his skin; slowly easing away aches and pains that Fuji hadn't known he had. He sighed, and turned off the water. He stepped out of the tub onto the forest-green rug and dried himself off, then picked up the fresh clothes that Jin had given him and put them on. As he was about to pull the long-sleeved black shirt over his head he caught sight of himself in the mirror. The scar on his left shoulder also caught his eye. Fuji sighed again, and pulled the shirt over his head. He fixed his hair, picked up his own soaked clothes, fixed his face into its typical mask and walked out the bathroom door. He walked over to the library entrance and poked his head around the door frame.

"Shower's free," he told the people inside. Momo and Kaido both picked up their clothes piles at the same time, and had a race for the door. Fuji quickly jumped out of the way, yanking Eiji out from in front of Momo as he went. He gathered Eiji's soaked clothes out of their owner's hands and started down the stairs.

"Hey, Fuji," Eiji protested.

"Eiji it's ok. You can wait up here for Oishi to finish," Fuji said, then disappeared down the stairs. He continued on down to the kitchen.

"The washer and dryer are across the hall," Jin said, with out turning around or taking further notice of him. Fuji rolled his eyes and walked back out of the kitchen. He dropped the wet pile of cloths into a basket and went back to the kitchen.

"Anything I can help with?" Fuji asked. A loaf of French bread and a serrated knife dropped down on to the counter in front of him.

"Start slicing." Jin turned back to the stove.

"You trust me with a knife?" Fuji commented as he started slicing.

"Of course! I have a bigger one over here," Jin replied, pulling a meat cleaver out of a drawer and holding it up to prove her point. Fuji bowed his head over his work. A few minutes later, Oishi and Eiji walked in.

"Hey, just put your clothes in the basket in the room across the hall," Jin instructed as she turned around, glaring over at Fuji. "Fuji! I said slice it, not turn it in to croutons!" Then, without warning, the back door flew open and in stumbled four people covered in leaves, mud, cuts, bruises, and sopping wet; it was Ann Tachibana, her brother Kippei Tachibana, Akira Kamio, and Yuta Fuji. Jin leaned against the counter.

"Isn't it costmary to knock first and to enter through the front door?" Jin asked.

"Are you going to make us walk all the way around to knock on the front door!?"

"No. But I am going to demand that you close that door." Jin turned around and turned off the stove. She led the bedraggled group upstairs and gave them the same instructions she had given to the Seigaku tennis team, not a half-hour before. After that bit of excitement, the rest of the day was uneventful. Dinner was finished and people were shipped off to bed with out any more excitement.

"Hey, um… there's only one single bed in the house that is ready for someone to sleep in. The rest of you are going to have to room together. I'll let you figure out who's sleeping with whom, but keep in mind that the rooms you'll be staying in only have king-sized beds. Ann, if you'll come with me I'll show you to your room."

"Hey! Why does she get the single bed?" Momo protested around a mouth full of food.

"Because the only person I trust to put Ann in a bed with would be her brother. And that would just be wrong on so many levels," Jin stated bluntly. She grabbed Ann by the wrist and dragged her out of the room before anyone else could say anything.

Ann's Room:

"How long do you expect us to stay here?" Ann asked as she and Jin made the bed.

"However long it takes to get a hold of Jirou so he can send you home." Jin fluffed up a pillow.

"With four of us here we're going to attract attention. And not the good kind, either," Ann said worriedly.

"How are you getting four? There are five of us here," Jin said. Ann started silently counting on her fingers. When she had counted five she tipped her head to the side to acknowledge her mistake.

"Anyway, I'm more worried about the attention I'll get when my family comes home," Jin said. Ann looked at her questioningly. Jin looked around, opened the door, checked the hallway, closed the door, and whispered in Ann's ear. Ann jerked away in response to what she heard.

"You mean we're…?" Ann asked.

"Yeah."

"And their…"

"Yeah."

"And you're…"

"Yeah," Jin said tiredly.

"That's going to be fun to explain," Ann said as she picked up a quilt off the floor.

"Tell me about it." Jin grabbed one edge of the quilt and helped Ann put it on the bed. Jin finished talking to Ann, and bid her good night. She checked up on the boys, making sure they had everything. Eiji was jumping up and down on the bed, while Oishi tried to get him to stop. Jin smiled, moving on.

"Some things will never change," Jin mused as she closed the door behind her. Ryoma and Momo were having a conversation. Well, Momo was trying to have a conversation; Ryoma was just ignoring him. Kawamura was speaking softly to Yuta. Tachibana and Kamio were hitting a tennis ball back and forth lightly. Inui was writing in his ever-present notebook, and Kaido was watching him intently while trying to look like he wasn't. Fuji was sitting on the bed looking at Tezuka smiling softly, his eyes open. Tezuka was looking out the window watching the storm. Jin sat down on the bed next to Fuji.

"I think this is the first time I've seen anything that close to a real smile from you in a long time," Jin said quietly. Fuji looked at her and slid back into his mask. Jin just flicked him on the nose and gave him a pointed look that said 'don't even think about it.' Tezuka turned around and saw Jin. She smiled softly.

"I'm surprised at how quiet the storm is," Tezuka said.

"The walls here are still the same walls that were here when the place was built. They're solid stone. The only replacements are the windows, doors, and roofs," Jin said. She stood up and walked over to look out the window.

"Amazing," Tezuka said.

"Say that when it's snowing outside. There is an AC and a heater, but they only help so much. If you noticed, there are also fireplaces in each room. Those are lit all winter." Without warning, Jin was smacked in the back of the head by a flying pillow. She spun around and looked at Fuji. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed looking anywhere but Jin and trying to look innocent; trying to keep from smiling. Of course, it didn't work. She bent over and picked up the pillow, and the next thing Tezuka knew Jin was sitting on Fuji's back beating him upside the head with the pillow.

"Say it," Jin commanded, temporarily halting in her beating of the poor boy.

"I…pant…refuse…heheh," Fuji said through his laughter. Jin tossed the pillow away and switched tactics. She started tickling him. Within seconds, she had him laughing so hard that he was on the verge of blacking out from lack of oxygen when Jin paused again.

"Say it," Jin ordered as she rested her hands on his shoulder blades.

"Ok…pant…ok…giggle…you win…breath…now get off…please," Fuji forfeited. Jin slid off of Fuji's back and off of the bed.

"Good night," Jin said smugly as she walked out of the room. Fuji rolled over onto his back, still panting. Fuji tossed his arm over his eyes and just lay there for a few moments. He felt the bed dip next to him.

"I'm all right," He said, without looking at his roommate. Fuji felt a soft tug on his sleeve. He removed his arm and looked at his captain. Tezuka was not looking at him with concern, but with question.

"Ok, so she's a bit more than an acquaintance."

"A bit," Tezuka said, "Who is she really?"

"That is a story for another time." Fuji hopped up and walked over to the window. He closed the curtains, and turned around to look at Tezuka.

"Time for bed." He walked over to the other side of the room and turned off the light. Now that the room had been plunged into complete darkness, Tezuka had to rely on his hearing to locate his teammate and determine what he was doing. Tezuka heard the soft hiss of cloth being pulled over skin, and could only assume that Fuji had taken off his shirt. He took off his glasses and set them on the nightstand on his side of the bed. He then also pulled off his short-sleeved dark blue shirt. He slid under the covers after making sure his glasses wouldn't fall off the table. He could hear Fuji padding softly over to the bed, his bare feet making barely any sound against the cold stone floor. He felt the bed dip as the tensai slid into the other side of the bed. Tezuka lay on his side facing the now covered window. He wondered silently who Jin really was, and what connection she had to the boy that lay next to him.

After Jin had closed the door to Fuji and Tezuka's bedroom, she made her way down to the libary. Jin stepped inside, closing the door behind her. The room was lit for an instant when a streak of lightning cut across the sky, and was then left in darkness. She made her way over to one of the tables and turned on a lamp. The room was illuminated with a soft, golden light. She walked over to one of the bookshelves and ran her finger along the spines as if looking for something to read. She finally came to a pitch-black book with no title on the spine. She pulled it off the shelf, walked back over to the desk, and sat down. When she opened the book, it turned out to be a laptop, which she then powered up. When she opened the Internet, her home-page asked for her password and username. She typed each one in, pressed enter, and sat back to look out the window while she waited for the site to finish loading. Not long after, the change in the screen caught her eye as the small window disappeared and the site started to load. The blue and white background showed up first, then the name of what seemed to be a chat room: Ukagies and Enimoduf, in black and red typeface, respectively. Jin smiled, recognizing the people in the chat, and typed her first message of the night:

KingsHeiress: HHHHHEEEEEEEEEYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

TennisPrince: Jin. How are you holding up?

KingsHeiress: I'm alright dad you don't have to worry so much.

PowerHouse: That's all he can do is worry Jin. It's his job as a father.

KingsHeiress: Yes mama.

PowerHouse: I'm not mama!

KingsHeiress: Mama!

PowerHouse: Not mama!

KingsHeiress: MAMA.

PowerHouse: NOT MAMA!

KingsHeiress: Ok. PEACH!

PowerHouse: GRRRRR.

MotherHen has logged on.

MotherHen: Are you two arguing again?

KingsHeiress: No.

PowerHouse: No.

TennisPrince: Yes.

MotherHen: I'll believe the last one.

Acro has logged on.

Acro: HHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! JINNY DO YOU MISS MEEEEE!?

MotherHen: You do not need to shout as you type love you'll disturb the people next door. How are you doing Jin? Everything fine? You're taking your medicine right? You're not disturbing the neighbors? Oh I really should come home and make sure everything is all right.

KingsHeiress: Stop, stop, stop. Deep breath, deep breath. Kiku, is he breathing.

Acro: Yyyyyeeeeeeeeeeeessssssssssssssssss.

KingsHeiress: Good. You need to calm down. Ok? I'm fine I can take care of myself.

Caption has logged on.

SeeingBlind has logged on.

KingsHeiress: I promise, the house will be in one piece when you get back. If it's not, I tell you now that it was not my fault.

Caption: Right. Just like it's not your fault that you have a C in my class.

SeeingBlind: I though we agreed that you wouldn't bring that up.

KingsHeiress: Ok. I would have 178% in your class if YOU would grade on CONTENT instead of the on the FREAKIN # OF PAGES!!!!!

SeeingBlind: Jin calm down. And stop cussing.

KingsHeiress: I AM CALM.

TennisPrince: Not if you're shouting your not.

KingsHeiress: *pout*

GreenViper has logged on

BlueVinger has logged on

BlueVinger: Jin aren't you suppose to be in bed. It's it like ten thirty back home.

GreenViper: It is.

KingsHeiress: I can take care of my self. Besides I want to talk to Tashi.

Caption: He's on a plane back home right now.

KingsHeiress: Dang. Oh well I'll take to him when he gets home.

PowerHouse: You no longer have an excuse to stay up. Bed. Now.

KingsHeiress: don' wanna.

TennisPrince: Now!

Acro: Bed!

MotherHen: Go!

Caption: Good night.

SeeingBlind: See you when we get home.

GreenViper: Night Princess.

BlueVinger: 98 chance of her yelling at you for that. Night Beautiful.

KingsHeiress: Whatever.

KingsHeiress has logged off.

Jin sat back and thought over the conversation she had just had. She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and pressed a number.

"'Ello," said a tired voice on the other end.

"Do you have anything for me yet?" Jin asked.

"No, nothing yet. Sorry, sweety."

"So'k. I'm just counting on you to keep me from getting grounded." Jin turned off the computer and put it away.

"Your dad still does that?"

"It's that or he takes away my allowance," Jin said with a laugh to her voice. She heard a sound down the hall as she closed the door behind her. "Hey, I got to go. Talk to ya later."

"Bye, Jin." Jin hung up the phone. She wandered down the hall to where she saw a light under the bathroom door. The sounds of retching could be heard coming from within. Gently, she opened the door. There was Fuji, bent over the toilet. Jin grabbed a cloth and soaked it in cold water. She pressed it to Fuji's forehead.

"I'm surprised you lasted this long," Jin said, as she wiped Fuji's face.

"Actually, I've been waiting for him to fall asleep. The ginger ale helped," Fuji said as he sat back and leaned against Jin.

"I told you it would." She said. She wiped off the back of his neck. Fuji lurched forward with out warning and emptied the rest of his stomach.

"Poor baby. I have some medicine that would make it so you could sleep to night. But it stretches this out over about four days."

"No thanks. I'll deal with it all right now." Fuji said as he leaned back against Jin again.

"I hate being handicapped."

"You're not handicapped. There are quite a few people that get sick when they travel through time. I'll give you some time to sneak away tomorrow afternoon so you can take a nap."

"Mmmmmmmmm sounds good. Probably just nicked a dimension when we came in. Go to bed Jin you worrying about me isn't not going to make this go away any faster." Fuji said.

"K, night." She presses her lips softly against his temple, got up and walked away.


	6. Chapter 4

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 4

Tezuka rolled over onto his back and rubbed his eyes. He reached out to his right and was met with an empty bed. He sat up quickly, confused and with no idea of where he was. Looking to the right, he saw a familiar looking blur sitting on what seemed to be a bedside table. He reached out and grabbed the blur. Low and behold, it was his glasses! He put them on and looked around, gradually regaining his memories of the night before. He and Fuji had gone to bed after Jin had beaten Fuji up with a down pillow. Later that night, Tezuka had heard Fuji get out of bed and leave the room, going who knows where. He must have fallen asleep before Fuji had returned. The question now was: Where is Fuji now?

Tossing his covers off, he swung his legs out of bed. As his feet hit the ice cold stone floor, he pulled them back onto the bed with a soft hiss of surprise. Looking around, he noticed a pair of socks on Fuji's night stand. He crawled across the bed and slipped them on his feet. He was finally able to get off the bed without freezing his feet off. He stretched his back, enjoying the feeling of the morning breeze blowing through the window.

Wait! The window hadn't been open before he had fallen asleep. He walked over and pulled aside the curtains. There on the bench-set sat a tray with a bagel, cream cheese, a few pieces of bacon, a glass of milk, and a small glass of orange juice. Beside the tray was a change of clothes, a pair of jeans, and a hunter green shirt; along with his regulars' uniform. He ate the breakfast and changed into the clothes. He put his regulars' uniform on top of the beautifully carved ebony trunk at the foot of the bed.

A sound from the hall had him at the door in half a heartbeat. Out in the hall, Tachibana had engaged in a shouting match with Momo. Tezuka gathered from the yelled words that Tachibana had gone to wake up Ann, only to find her missing. Apparently he thought that Momo had…oh, how to put this…"deflowered" his little sister during the night. Momo was denying the fact with swinging arms and cuss words every sentence.

"Tachibana-sempai, I know for a fact that Momo-sempai never left the room last night," Ryoma said quietly.

"And how do you know that?" Tachibana all but yelled.

"Because Momo-sempai snores like a chainsaw and I couldn't get any sleep," Ryoma said with a yawn. By this time the other Seigaku team members had come out of their rooms. Eiji jumped Ryoma, saying something about 'poor o chibi didn't get any sleep. You can sleep with me and Oishi tonight. Big bed has lots of room.'

"How the he-" SMACK!

"It is too early in the morning for you to be yelling," Jin said as she lowered the book she had used to smack Tachibana. She wore a pair of black short-shorts and a tight fitting white tank top.

"Jin, don't start beating up on my brother, go beat up on Fuji," Ann Tachibana said as she came jogging up behind the group. Yuta and Kamio jogged up behind her, nearly collapsing as they panted for breath. Ann was wearing a pair of tight fit biker shorts and a tight fit dark blue tank top. The boys were running around in shorts and tanks as well. Jin looked them over.

"If you have breath left to talk then you didn't run far enough," looking at her watch, "Or fast enough. And if you two are out of breath from just running six miles then you are in really sad shape. Go do it again." Jin turned on her heel and walked away.

"They just ran six miles in under ten minutes. Give them some time to rest," Ann said.

"No, they ran six miles in fifteen minutes. That's two miles every five minutes. Not good enough." Jin seemed to consider something. "Run three miles in under five, and I'll give you a ten minute break. You," she pointed at Ann, "go work on the balance beam." Ann ran past Jin and down the hall, rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. "You two go now. When you're done I'll meet you in the gym." The boys turned and ran away.

"You have a gym?" Momo asked.

"I live in a castle, my daddy's rich and I could have had a Ferrari for my sixteenth birthday if I had wanted to," Jin said. "So yes, I do have a gym in the house. I also have an indoor pool."

"Pool! Swimming! WHEEEEEEE!" Eiji yelled as he took off running. He got about three steps before Oishi grabbed a hold of him and yanked him back.

"Down Eiji, down," Oishi said as he stroked Eiji's hair, trying to calm him down.

"You can come and watch if you want," Jin said, and walked down the hall in the same direction that Ann had run. Eiji followed without a second thought. Oishi followed right behind him, not trusting Eiji to stay out of the pool. They walked down the hall and turned the corner. In front of the group was a plain single door, which Jin opened and stepped through.

The far wall of the room inside was made up of windows that stretched all the way from the floor to the ceiling, closely resembling the ones by the front door. On the right side of the room were various sets of gymnastic equipment: balance beam, uneven bars, a spring board, a pommel horse, vault horse, and spring floor. On the left side of the room there was an expanse of gleaming hardwood floor, coated with a polish that made it shine like glass. Looking up, one could see a second level that ran the perimeter of the room. Hanging over the gymnastics side of the room were trapeze wires, trapeze bars, hanging rings, and free hanging ropes of varying size, length and girth.

"You can sit over there." Jin pointed to some benches that were pushed up against the wall. She walked over to the hardwood side of the room, and towards Fuji, who sat in the middle.

"Fuji, get your ass off the floor. You owe me a sparing match." Fuji looked over his shoulder at her with a bored look on his face. He stood up and waited for her to come to him. She stopped about an arm's length away from him.

"Let's see how rusty you are. And the two of you are late," Jin said as Yuta and Kamio tried to sneak in. They dropped down in front of the benches.

"Never," pant, "doing that," gasp, "again," Yuta finished.

"You're going to do it again after lunch," Jin said, and a strangled cry came from the two exhausted tennis players. Then without warning she took a swing at Fuji.


	7. Chapter 5

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 5

Fuji took half-a-step back, the punch whistling harmlessly through the air in front of his face. His eyes slid closed and he smiled. This was going to be easier then he thought. It was just too bad that he didn't see the kick coming. She landed it in his ribs, and if Jin had been really trying, it probably would have cracked (if not broken) a few of them. Fuji stumbled a bit before righting himself. Jin was on him in a second. She grabbed a hold of his face and made him look at her.

"You need to focus. Eyes open, no smiling, be prepared for ANYTHING! You do not focus and I will kill you. No joke," she threatened. She began to pull her hand away from his face, but then thought better of it and slapped him. Ann giggled softly from where she sat on the balance beam, watching.

"You, no sitting on balance beam, PRACTICE!" Jin threw her hands up in defeat and mumbled something. She turned and walked away. Not really. She turned around again and lashed out at Fuji with a flurry of punches. He easily blocked most of them, and the ones he didn't were easy to dodge. To the rest of the tennis team it looked like Fuji was holding his own, that was only until Jin swiped his feet out from under him. Fuji hit the hardwood floor with a painful thump. Tezuka was on his feet in an instant, planning to stop the match before someone became seriously injured, particularly Fuji. Yuta placed a reassuring hand on his knee.

"He is in no danger. Relax. They're just testing each other; they're not even trying." Tezuka sat back down, still not totally convinced. He was on his feet again when Jin was sent flying halfway across the floor.

"Well, at least they _weren't_ serious. Look, the best thing for you to do right now is to just sit and wait this out. You go out there, and you, Fuji, or Jin could get hurt. Just sit down and let them fight this out. She won't kill him." Yuta glanced warily at Jin and Fuji: she was working at dislocating his shoulder. He turned back to Tezuka: "I think." They looked back out at the scene. Jin and Fuji were now trying to figure out who was stronger while shouting insults at each other. A/N: I refuse to type them up. End of discussion. Stop glaring. Fuji wrapped a foot around the back of Jin's knee, and sending them both into a tangled heap on the floor. Fuji pinned Jin's hands on either side of her head.

"You're not going anywhere."

"Really?" Jin arched her back, managed to wrap a leg around Fuji's neck, pulling him off of her in an amazing show of flexibility. She stood up and looked down at him. "Try again. Ow! I think I dislocated my hip," pop, "yep, dislocated. Easy enough to fix, though." Jin popped it back in just as Fuji tackled her. This time, he tried sitting on the small of her back. That didn't work: Jin just kicked him in the back of the head and threw him off again. Fuji curled up and rolled away from her. A second later, He was on his feet. Jin turned and walked to the weapons rack on the wall.

She pulled off two weapons that looked like bladed quarterstaffs. The wooden poles were about seven feet long with eighteen inches of sharpened steel at one end.

"You remember how to use a glaive right?" Jin asked as she handed the weapon to Fuji.

"Of course." He took the weapon and tested its weight.

"Good. The rules are simple; you scratch my floor, you buff it out, polish it, and then I will kill you. You kill yourself, I will resurrect you, you will clean up the mess you made and then I will kill you again, outside."

"Why outside?"

"Daddy said I can't kill people on any of the hard wood floors, tile, or carpet. And it's easier to drag you outside then it is to drag you down to the dungeons." Fuji nodded his head in agreement, and prepared himself for the attack.

"For the last time, I didn't hit him that hard," Jin said. Everyone was still in the gym, with Fuji on his back on one of the benches. Tezuka was holding a piece of gauze above Fuji's right eye as Oishi cut the tape.

"Stay," Oishi commanded with barely a glance at her. He was confident that Inui and Kaido could keep her away from Fuji. Jin and Fuji had been sparring with the glaives when Fuji didn't duck in time to save himself from one of Jin's swings. It hit him right above the eye, and down he went. Thank goodness Jin only hit him with the wooden part of the glaive. Tezuka was there first and pulled Jin away from Fuji. Oishi wasn't far behind. Soon after, everyone had joined in. Ann, Yuta, and Kamio had left to find the first aid kit.

"Did you even bother to check for a concussion?" Jin asked. Oishi looked at Tezuka. In all reality neither of them knew how to check for signs of a concussion.

"Move." Jin brushed her way past Kaido and Inui, grabbing a small flashlight out of the first aid kit as she went, bent down and directed the beam at Fuji's eyes. She moved it a few times, checked his pupil dilation, and sat back with a satisfied air.

"No concussion." Jin tossed the flashlight back to Kaido.

"How do you know?" Momo asked.

"One of my uncles is a licensed doctor. I picked up a few things." Jin stood up. "An ice pack, a warm bed, and lunch are all he'll need, and by tomorrow he'll be fine." Jin left, and Ann followed her out. Tachibana followed his sister, not wanting her to be left alone with Jin. Everyone but Oishi ended up being herded out by Tezuka within the next thirty seconds or dragged out by someone else for fear of what the captain would do if they lingered too long. Tezuka gave Oishi a long look, silently asking him to leave. Oishi nodded his head and silently left the room. Tezuka leaned over Fuji, looking at him carefully.

"Is Prince Charming planning on kissing Sleeping Beauty?" Fuji asked softly. Tezuka allowed his eyes to soften. Then with out warning he scooped Fuji up and carried him out of the room, bridal style.

"Hey! Put me down! I can walk on my own! Ow, my head hurts." Fuji's hand came up to cover his eye. Tezuka nudged open the door with his foot and carried Fuji over to the bed. He set him down gently, and went over to close the door and open the curtains. He turned around and saw Fuji watching him, as usual, with his eyes closed and a small smile on his lips; his fingers softly rubbing the gauze above his eye.

"I'll go find an ice pack," Tezuka said. He walked out of the room, softly closed the door behind him, and nearly ran right into Jin. She was carrying a tray full of food and a bag of ice.

"Tell him," She said. Tezuka gave her a confused look. What in the world is this girl talking about?

"Tell him how you feel. And no, you are not allowed to say 'the team needs you', or 'will you be able to play'. That shit is not going to fly with him. He needs to know you care and that you aren't going to leave him. And that…oh never mind I'm jumping ahead of my self," Jin waved her hand in front of Tezuka's face. He acquired a dazed look. Jin brought her hand back from the opposite direction. Tezuka's eyes cleared up and he looked at her, his usual mask in place.

"Here you go. Food for both of you and a bag of ice for Fuji. Take care of him for me; I'm going to be out for the rest of the day. If he wants to sleep, let him." Jin handed the tray to the captain and walked away.

"Hey, Tezuka, could you do something for me? Tell him: 'When it's time, you'll know,'" Jin said cryptically. Tezuka nodded and went back into the room. Jin turned and looked out the window.

"You'll know." She whispered to no one.


	8. Chapter 6

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 6

Jin looked at the tree lying across the path and sighed, dragging the back of her hand across her forehead, leaving behind a dark brown smear. There were four ways she could get around this tree: one, she could crawl under it; there was more then enough room, but she'd get dirty (not that that was possible ("Hey!")). Two, she could walk around it, except that the tree was huge and it would take her a good fifteen minutes to get back to the path if she didn't run into any problems. Three, she could jump over it (though it was very big, having been around for a good two hundred years), or four, she could put it back where it belonged. Jin blew a strand of hair out of her face as she contemplated her dilemma.

For the last hour and a half, Jin had been walking around the property surveying the damage done by the storm. Really, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Wanting to make sure that everything was all right with the drainage, Jin decided to check the stream. During the course of its life, the stream had managed to cut a fairly deep in to the ground, so the banks on either side were about fifteen feet high. Well, Jin, in a moment of complete and utter stupidity…

"HEY!"

Well, it was her own fault. She had forgotten that the rain last night had meant water, and that water usually travels to the lowest laying area; meaning the stream. Let's just say that Jin found out that the stream was no longer a stream, but a small river. She fell, tripped, slid, and tumbled all the way down to the bottom. She was now muddy, cold, wet, and highly pissed off.

"Stupid writer can't keep her thoughts to herself."

I heard that.

"Talking to your self again?" asked a soft whispery voice just over Jin's left shoulder.

"GAHH!" Jin jumped and spun around, pulling out her dagger and slicing through thin air.

"Had I been a second slower, I would have needed a new shirt," said a young man with brown hair and stormy, soft gray eyes.

"CHITOSE! You jack ass son of a bitch! Don't do that!" She put her dagger away.

"What? I thought you loved me. And a lady shouldn't use that type of language," Chitose said, softly scolding her.

"Who said I was a lady?" Jin asked with her usual attitude. Amen to that. Jin growled softly. Chitose wrapped his arms around Jin's shoulders.

"Ignore the stupid writer, my love, and come join me in-"

"Move it or lose it, 'cause I am in no mood to deal with you today. And get OFF!" Jin elbowed him in the stomach, or she tried to, anyway. Chitose jumped out of her way and landed on top of the fallen tree.  
"Come beautiful, why don't we get you home. For it looks to me like you need a bath," he said, and held out a hand to her. Jin raised an eyebrow and flipped her hand. The tree rocked a little bit, but it was enough to throw Chitose off balance. Down he went, straight into a mud puddle. Now he was just as dirty as Jin.

"Looks like you need a bath too," Jin taunted with false innocence. The brown haired boy just glared at her. She just gave him a soft smile, telling him that she was just messing around, and that there were no hard feelings. Chitose nodded and tried to wipe off the worst of the mud. Jin looked at the tree. As she looked, her eyes started to softly glow gold. Thick, sturdy vines sprang from the ground and wrapped around the trunk. The vines tightened, and slowly, carefully, the fallen tree rose from the ground. Jin, never taking her eyes off the tree, moved to stand in its shadow. Her eyes never changed as a strong gust of wind came from nowhere, ripping Jin's hair from its tie and blowing it around her. She ignored it, or just didn't see it. The tree, within seconds, was back where it belonged, its roots buried deep in the earth once again. A branch bent low and brushed itself softly over her forearm.

"You're welcome," she replied. Jin tucked her long, knee-length hair back behind her ear. A gentle tugging on the hem of her shirt made her look down. There was a young rose, the bud not even part way open, with her hair tie resting softly on one of the leaves.

"Oh, thank you." She gave the rose a gentle pat, and took the tie. The rose ducked, acting almost as if it was embarrassed, then retreated back to the main plant; looking as if it had never moved. Jin put her hair back up into its pony tail and offered a hand to Chitose. He took it, standing up. They started back towards the house walking next to each other in comfortable silence. Chitose wrapped his arm around Jin's shoulders and pulled her against him, then released her. Jin guards herself very closely, almost never letting someone see past her mask. For all the years Chitose and Fuji have known her she has only cried in front of them maybe once each. She doesn't want others to feel like they have to shoulder her problems, so she hides, in plain sight. There has been only one person recently that has been allowed to see what lies beyond the mask.  
A soft growl on their left stopped the two in their tracks.

"Tell me I didn't just imagine that," Chitose said. A howl answered him.

"Good to know." Another howl answered the first, along with a scream.

"That was from the house," Jin said, and took off at a run; Chitose following close behind. They raced through the forest at breakneck speed, neither minding the roots or rocks that would spell trouble for even the most agile people. The forest was a blur around them by the time they crested the hill. Jin took in the chaos in half a second. The front door was open and one of the windows was broken. Everyone was outside looking shaken up, but for the most part fine. Oishi was bent down looking at the still wet ground in front of the door. As Jin skidded to a stop she saw what he was looking at: tracks. One set of wolf prints, one set of human prints, and what looked like something or someone being dragged. The hazel eyed girl looked around and did a quick head count.

"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve…where's Eiji?" Jin asked.

"They took him. They were after him. Never touched the rest of us didn't even spare a glance. Went right to him grabbed him and left, in and out in under 20," Fuji said, voice detached.

"We'll get him back," Jin said as she followed the tracks with her eyes. "Now why do they go in that direction?" she asked herself.

"Then let's go get him," Oishi said, and tried to take off, taking about two steps before Jin grabbed him.

"No one is going anywhere until I know what we are dealing with. I refuse to rush headlong into a situation I know nothing about. Fuji, come here." Fuji walked over, and Jin passed Oishi off to Chitose.

"Ok, so we know that there are at least two. Eiji wouldn't have walked out on his own. If I had to take a guess I'd say hunters, since they knew right where he was."

"Shape-shifters as well. It was a wolf that grabbed him, about as big as a horse," Fuji said.

"So we have shape-shifting hunters on our hands. That's just great. Do these people ever follow the rules?"

"To them the rules don't exist."

"That doesn't matter! If I want to complain, then I'm going to complain GOD DAMMIT!" Jin shouted the last part.

Fuji laughed softly. They talked for a few more moments, and then Jin decided that it would be safer if everyone was inside. Dinner was a quiet affair. No one spoke. After dinner, Jin dragged Fuji, Chitose, Ann, Yuta, and Kamio up to the library, and looked the door.

"This is it! I have had enough of just sitting around doing nothing when Eiji is out there!" Oishi exclaimed to himself as he paced restlessly around the room that he and Eiji had shared the previous night. Walking over to his tennis bag, he opened up a secret pocket in the lining. Inside was a small, leather rectangle about the size of a wallet. Hiding it in his hand, he stepped cautiously out into the hallway. As he approached the door to the library, he pulled a long thin piece of metal out of the leather pocket. He was about to put it in the lock when he suddenly became aware of the conversation going on inside.

"No. Absolutely not. We are not pulling in civilians. I did not leave just to have someone take my place." That was Fuji. Oishi didn't think he had ever heard him sound this angry.

"Fuji, would you please…"

"NO! I'm not going to listen. Eiji was my first friend at Seigaku, and I'm not just going to leave him for dead."

"Did I ever say we were just going to leave him? We will go get him… but we'll go tomorrow. I may be allowed to travel these lands at night but I dare not to at the moment, you know why, Fuji. Oishi, why don't you try checking to see if the door is actually locked before you try picking it?"

Oishi looked at the door, and against his better judgment, opened it.


	9. Chapter 7

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 7

A door opened slightly, allowing a bright pathway of light to cut through the inky darkness of the room. A single person slipped through the mysterious door and into the room, quieter than the dawn. The shadowy personage softly placed two piles of clothes on the trunk at the foot of the bed. A hand grabbed hold of one of the two occupants' shoulders. The aforesaid occupant sighed, arching his back slightly, and rolled over onto his other side to look at the person that had awoken him; blue eyes piercing the darkness.

"It's time to get up, Fuji," said the intruder softly. Fuji nodded.

"We'll meet you down stairs in ten, Jin," Fuji said, then rolled back over to try to get Tezuka to wake up. Jin closed the door behind her softly and walked down the stairs, through the front and the family rooms, and into the kitchen. Kamio and Chitose were sitting at one of the counters talking quietly. Ann was fixing breakfast with Yuta looking over her shoulder to watch her work, his hands on her hips and his chin on her shoulder.

"If Tachibana sees you two like that he is going to kill you, Yuta," Jin said as she picked up a glass of orange juice from the counter. Yuta shrugged his shoulders, but didn't let go of Ann. Jin spared a glance at the clock on the wall; four o'clock. She sighed and pulled back her hair.

"We have to be out of here by six if we have any hope of catching them," Jin said. She grabbed a piece of toast and walked out of the room, running smack into Oishi.

"We leave at six. Could you do me a favor and make sure every one is up?" Jin asked. He nodded, then turned around and walked away with out another word. Jin sighed again. _Last night must have been quite a shock for him. Poor guy._

"I'm going to make sure the horses are ready. Make sure everyone has something to eat; I should be back by the time there done. And make sure they are wearing the clothes I laid out for them." Jin walked through the kitchen and out through the back door, closing it behind her.

Oishi quickly checked on everyone, making sure they were all up. Sighing, he continued to walk down the hallway, not even caring where he was going. He opened a random door and went through it. An upward flight of stairs, a hallway, a left turn, and another flight of stairs later, he found himself standing on a balcony looking out over the land around the castle. It was breathtaking. The sun was just starting to peek over the trees on the horizon, coloring the tops of them a golden color. He rested his arms against the rail that wrapped around the balcony in the same way as the similarly twisting metal vines of the staircase in the front room. Oishi lost himself in his thoughts as he went over what he had seen in the library the previous night.

Jin shivered as the night air hit her skin, pulling the blue-and-green molted cloak around her shoulders. She walked quickly across the yard to a dark building behind the house. Jin was half way across the yard when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Jin. It is good to see you again, though I wish the circumstances were different," said a voice from the shadows cast by the mysterious building. It sounded like a soft night breeze making its journey through the leaves and branches of the trees.

"Is something the matter, Lisha*?"

"Neither the king nor I had known that you had been expecting visitors, nor that they would travel here at night," said Lisha. Though she remained completely invisible, she stayed within the boundaries of the deepest and darkest of shadows.

"Shit! They traveled straight through the night?" Jin asked, becoming more worried by the second.

"They stopped for a few hours around midnight to rest the horses. They pushed hard, it almost seemed as though they were running from something… Or someone… Jin, what did you do?" Lisha's voice took on a playful tone towards the end, but Jin had other things to worry about besides Lisha poking fun at her.

"They were running from me. Did your troops engage them at all?"

"No. We were ready to ambush them when one of my scouts spotted Eiji. We didn't attack, but kept a close eye on them. Something seemed off about the boy. He acted like he wasn't completely there."

"They probably drugged him. Lisha, if they travel tonight too, stop them, slow them down, or have them travel in circles. I don't care what you do, just make sure that every one of them stays alive." Jin started walking towards the stables again. "They kidnapped Eiji, and I will not show them mercy."

"Does the phrase 'You mess with my family, you die' apply to this situation?" Lisha asked.

"Of course it does. Do I have permission to travel through the night?" Jin asked.

"_You_ don't have to ask. You may always travel through the night and shall never be hindered by any of our people," Lisha said, her voice starting to fade.

"Thank you. Watashitachi go futatabi aumade*," Jin said.

"Watashitachi go futatabi aumade." With that, Lisha's voice faded completely. Jin stood still for a few moments longer, allowing the wind to play with her hair, and then went into the stable.

Oishi rested his head in his hands as he thought about what Jin had said the night before.

_Oishi stepped in__to the library. It still looked the same as it had the day before, but the walls felt strange, as though they were leaning in to hear the conversation too._

"_Close the door behind you__, please," Jin said from her seat at the corner of the table. Oishi did as he was told, feeling as though he were closing the door to his own prison cell. He stood in front of the door, not knowing what to do now that he was here._

"_Come__ closer, we don't bite," Jin said._

"_Hard__," Kamio muttered towards Yuta. Jin kicked him softly in the leg. Oishi walked forward and stopped at the end of the table where everyone sat. They all seemed content to sit still and just wait, but for Oishi the silence was horrible. Oishi took a breath, planning to say something, but Jin beat him to it._

"_Oishi I know for a fact that you went to Seigaku to escape your past, but the fact of the matter is that you can't escape something like that."_

"_What do you know of my past?" Oishi__ asked defensively. No longer was he the gentle, caring mother hen that everyone knew. The __air around him seemed to seep authority, power and skill__._

"_**Don't**__ try__ to __intimidate me__. __Many have tried and all have failed__. I know who, and what, you are." Jin picked up a stack of papers that had rested on a pitch black book. She started to read from the papers. "Let me see. '__Hacking skills, average. Pick pocket skills, above average. Lock-picking skills, top of class__. Spying needs work but shows potential.' What else…oh, here's a good one 'Would have been able to steal the Declaration of Independence.' That I would have liked to see." Jin put the papers back down. "The list goes on, and I also have a list of what you have managed to lift from businesses, private homes, and museums. Though I don't think you want me to read that."_

"_How?"__ Oishi asked as he sat down heavily on a chair._

"_How did I find all this out you mean?" Jin asked. Oishi nodded. "__The world's information is at my fingertips__." Jin ran her hand over the black book. It was only when Oishi looked closer that he noticed it was a laptop. Jin slid in to a chair at the head of the table._

"_Leg falling asleep?"__Chitose asked in a whisper._

"_I can't feel anything from the knee down," Jin whispered back._

"_You hacked into the system." Oishi leaned forward and put his head in his hands._

"_It wasn't hard. The __Rogue Court__ has gotten lax in their security measures, day to day actives are starting to be noticed by normal people who have no connection with the Court. Even the '_recruitment_' of new members is no longer done with care."_

"Recruitment?!_ That's what you call what happened today?!" Oishi all but yelled._

"_No, I call it kidnapping. And please understand Oishi, I am not going to let this slide."_

"_Then what are you going to do?__" Oishi said and looked to the side._

"_What _we_ are going to do is we are going to get Eiji back. And you're coming with us." Oishi stood up._

"_HELL NO! I am not going with you. I ran away from the Court for a reason. I am NOT going to go waltzing back in there."_

"_Well, everyone is__ coming. After what happened today, I am not leaving you people unprotected for the two days it will take me to get there and the day and a half to get back. Everyone is coming. Besides; you can't exactly run away from the Court. Once you join the Court, you belong to them for life. Whether you like it or not."_

"_And you w__ant me to tell them everything."_

"_I am not going to make you do anything. Though I do suggest you tell them, for it will make everything easier."_

"_I'll think about it__," Oishi said._

"_Very well. Unless there is something else you want to ask I think we're done here," Jin said. Oishi nodded and stood up to leave. "Oh, I almost forgot. Do you know how to ride a horse?" Jin asked, leaning forward._

The stable consisted of about sixty different stalls though only about a third of them were occupied. The soft light gave the old dark brown wood a warm look. The hallway that ran between the two rows of stalls had a sparse covering of straw. Jin breathed deeply, enjoying the smell of the stables; straw, oats, leather, and of course, horses. When the door swung open, many of the horses looked out of their stalls to see who had come to visit. Once they realized who it was, every one of them started to neigh and whinny in greeting. Jin smiled and held her hands up, telling them to quiet down. After that, many went back to eating or sleeping. Others still poked there heads over the stall doors, waiting for a loving rub, and kiss on the nose. As Jin made her way down the stalls, greeting each horse in turn, she pondered what she was going to do. Eiji, when they got him back, probably wouldn't be the same. Jin sighed and leaned against the last door on the left. It was dark inside, and looked completely empty.

"What am I going to do, Stormy? What happened to the times when everything was so much simpler? I miss the days when the only thing I had to worry about was if we could get in another ride before bed." Inside the stall a shadow shifted, and moved towards the door. A giant head popped over the door to look down at Jin. His eyes were soft and caring when he looked at his rider, and seemed to contain more knowledge than any horse could learn in a lifetime.

"Hey there, boy," Jin said, and rubbed his face. The stallion was completely black but for the white blaze down his face. He nuzzled Jin's shoulder, then playfully grabbed a hold of a strand of her hair and pulled. Jin yelped and jumped back a step. Stormy nudged the door open and walked out into the hallway. Jin walked over to him, slipped one of her shoulders under his powerful neck and wrapped her arms up and around to give him a hug. Stormy dropped his head to the right, returning the gesture the as best he could. "It'll be ok. Everything will work out. It has to," Jin said, more to reassure herself than to reassure the horse. Stormy brought his head up and down in a nod. Jin sighed and let go of her horse. She walked into the tack room* at the end of the hall. "It's going to be a long day."

Jin walked back into the house, and looked at everyone in the kitchen. Yuta wasn't dead yet so it is safe to assume that he let go of Ann before her brother came in.

"Everyone's had something to eat right? Good. Follow me."

"Why did we have to get up so fuckin' early in the morning?" Momo asked.

"Because, if we have any hope of catching them, we have to leave at six o'clock. So deal with it. Fuji, you look sexy in black, wear it more often." Jin said. Fuji gave her a look that could have melted steel. She led them back to the front room through the door on the left.

"Where are we going?" Ann asked.

"You will see," Jin answered. She led them to a ballroom. The ballroom was huge, with one wall full of windows that revealed the night sky. Jin led them to the back of the room, winding through doors, down staircases, and into a small, round room. A solid metal door could be seen on the opposite side of the room. Jin walked up to the door and placed the palm of her hand on one of the stones next to it. As she pushed the stone into the wall, another stone slid out of the wall next to the door through which they had entered. A key was molded into the hidden face of the stone, and as it became visible, Jin walked back over to the key and picked it up. Now that she had the key to the mysterious metal door, she was finally able to put it in the appropriate lock. As she began to turn the key, a deafening roar ripped through the air.

"YOU KEEP A DRAGON IN THE DUNGEON?!?!?!" Fuji yelled.

"No, of course not. That would just be stupid," Jin said, Fuji sighed in relief "I keep the dragon in the basement and the balrog in the dungeon*." Completing the turn that would allow her to unlock the door, she pulled the key out and pushed the door in at the same time.

*Her name is pronouced LEE shah. It's African and it means 'Full of Mystery'.

*until we meet again.

*I don't know how many of you know things about horses, but the tack room is where all the saddles, bridles, brushes, and leather cleaning supplies are kept.

*_There's a Dragon in the Dungeon,_

_And a Balrog in the Basement._

_There's a Dragon in the Basement,_

_And a Balrog in the Dungeon._

_There's a Dragon in the Bungeon,_

_And a Balrog in the Dasement._

_There's a …_

Sorry, this is what happens when I stay up all night writing. I make up stupid songs.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I love you all and will see you soon. Bye-Bye.

Now that you've read, please review.

Push the green button, you know you want to. **PUSH IT!!**


	10. Chapter 8

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 8

Jin stepped through the door, and everyone followed but they were a bit hesitant in steeping over the threshold. Inside was row upon row of shelves. The shelves went back as far as the eye could see. The objects on the shelves were impossible to make out in the security lights.

"Lights please." Jin said to no one. The rows of lights flickered on one by one, lighting the objects on the shelves.

"IS THERE ANYTHING IN THIS HOUSE THAT IS LEGAL!?!?" Were the first words out of Fuji's mouth.

"Well that depends on whose laws you're looking at." Jin said as she walked down a hallway. She raised her voice so they could still hear her. "Am I breaking any laws set up by any of the _official_ world countries? Then no since there is no law saying that it is illegal to own magical creatures. Am I breaking any of _our _laws?" Jin poked her head around a shelf, "Then yes." She disappeared again. Fuji turned and started to bang his head against the nearest shelf. The sound echoed through out the…I think hanger would describe this place the best.

"Fuji, there are grenades on that shelf." Jin yelled. Fuji jumped back about five feet.

"Um…does…"

"Does his royal high ass know? Yes, Ann, he does. Does he give a shit? No." Jin said.

"Automatic are on the right, semiautomatic are center right, things that blow shit up are in the center, bladed weapons are center left, and long range weapons are left." Jin shouted.

"What's in the back?" Yuta asked.

"Big things that won't fit on a shelf. You know tanks, armored cars, things like that. I think there is even a catapult back there some where." Jin said her voice fading as she walked further back.

"Will, would have a field day." Chitose said as he looked around.

"And that is precisely why I don't let him in. Ok, any one who knows how to handle a weapon, without killing your selves, go a head and choose what you want. YUTA, YOU ARE TO STAY AWAY FROM THE AUTOMATIC, THE SEMIAUTOMATIC, ANY HANDHELD EXPLOSIVES, AND ANYTHING LONG RANGE!" Jin shouted

"That's like everything in here." Yuta said.

"I think she doesn't want you to shoot your self in the foot this time." Kaimo said as he walked down towards the long range weapons.

"Once, you hit your self once and nobody trusts you." Yuta mumbled to himself as he followed Kaimo. Ann walked off before her brother could grab her. She turned down to look at the bladed weapons. She walked through the shelves, ignoring her brother as he yelled at her. She passed Jin, who was carefully picking out which pair of sai she would use. Ann walked until she came to the short bladed weapons. Ann picked up various daggers, throwing knives, and switchblades, testing the balance. When she finally decided on a one she liked, Ann slipped it in to the knee high leather boot she was wearing. After she was done she traveled down the row to where there were some shiny sliver bracelets resting in a box. She picked one up carefully; if it was down here it could explode in her hand for all she knew. Ann turned it over and looked at the underside on the bracelet. There was something scratched into the smooth back. It looked like a name and a date. Ann looked closer at the back and– it was snatched away.

"Don't bother with those. They don't work." Jin said as she put the bracelet back in the box and closed the lid. She turned a walked away. Ann's eyes were drawn back to the box that kept the bracelet. She knew that there was more going on the Jin was telling. That box had eight bracelets in it. Ann puzzled over that fact as she walked back towards the others. Ann made a mental note to do some digging later, but for now they had more important matters to attend to.

Jin led them back through the kitchen and out to the stables. Every horse that they were taking had a saddle, saddle bags, and a blanket draped over the door of the stall. Hanging on a peg next to each horse was a cloak. Jin walked all the way to the back of the barn and opened the stall door for her horse, Stormy. Stormy looked over the group of people clustered down by the door. He huffed and shook his head then held still as Jin put on the saddle blanket, and saddle. Ann broke away from her brother, walked about half way down the barn and stopped at a strawberry roan mare.

"Hey Jinx, how you doing girl?" Ann asked softly as she rubbed the horses face. Jinx nickered softly. Ann let her out of the stall, and put on her blanket and saddle as well. Jin finished taking care of Stormy she called over Tezuka.

"This is Eri*. She'll take care of you on our little 'field trip'. Trust her and she'll keep you from getting killed." Jin patted Tezuka firmly on the shoulder and walked away. Tezuka grabbed her elbow and pulled her back to him.

"I don't even know how to ride." Tezuka said firmly, yet quietly.

"Did I say anything about riding? No. You are going to sit on her back and hang on for dear life. Notice, no bridle. She is going to follow Stormy, the horse I ride. Don't try to steer she will not be happy. Oh, and if you pull out her mane, it's not my fault if you end up in a mud puddle, or a river. Get to know each other," Jin yanked her elbow out of his grasp and walked over to another horse. "Kaido, get over here!"

Tezuka turned back to look at the horse inside the stall, a beautiful red chestnut.

"Is she always like this," He asked the horse. Eri bobbed her head up and down. "I feel sorry of you." Eri nudged his arm; if she had been human it probably would have been a light smack. After about forty-five minuets of getting people assigned to a horse and convincing Ann's brother that everything was perfectly safe, they were on there way. Jin rode at the front of the group, Chitose brought up the rear on an Arabian named Asrar*. After much complaining, yelling, and freaking out (Tachibana when Ann decided flip round in her saddle so she was facing backwards) they finally came to a halt. Jin hopped off Stormy and took off into the trees with the horse following like a loyal dog. Giant, big black dog with a temper, but a dog none the less. Jin walked up to an old cabin; it looked like it would fall over if you sneezed. Jin pointed to the house.

"You all are sleeping in there tonight. Hope no one's afried of the dark." Jin said. She took the saddle off the dog, I mean horse…don't eat me. Stormy huffed and walked back over to Jin. That horse is to damn big. His daddy must have been a Clydesdale. Four hours later after the sun had set; Jin stepped out of the cabin into the dark. She breathed in the cool night air.

"I didn't expect you to make it this far so quickly." Said a soft voice from on top of the cabin.

"Lisha." Jin said but didn't turn around.

"Jennifer." Lisha said. Jin growled softly in warning.

"I hate that name."

"I know. I just use it to tease you." Jin crouched down, then pushed off the ground, and landed on the roof beside a shadow that was slightly darker then the rest.

"Is there a reason why you are hiding from me recently?" Jin asked softly.

"No, no reason." Lisha said and pushed back the hood on the cloak that she was wearing. Lisha turned her head to look at Jin. Jin smiled softly. Lisha had dark skin almost black, hair as black as the night, and her eyes, you couldn't tell where her pupils ended and her irises begin, for both were black. Jin once said that if you looked in to her eyes, you could see a whole night sky sealed within.

"You can go and do your job, Lisha. I can stand guard for one night." Jin said as she leaned back, and looked at the night sky.

"Then you shall have company. For my job is to help you guard your charges." Lisha said as she leaned back as well and rested on her elbows. Around two in the morning a dark shadow dropped down beside Jin.

"What took you so long?" Jin whispered so as not to wake the sleepers in the cabin below. She didn't bother to look at the person standing beside her.

"Kikumaru was hungry." Said the dark shape, moon light glinted off the glasses on the face.

"Please don't tell me you let him attack some poor defenseless hiker, Mitsu."

"Don't call me that." The teenage boy softly growled.

"Well what do you want me to call you, cause I am not calling you Tezuka. I have too many of them running around right now." He didn't answer her.

"You know what the plan is right?" Jin asked.

"Yes. We will be waiting for your signal." Mitsu said.

"Good. Just make sure all of you are in the throne room before I get there. We don't want any one to guess that something is wrong." Mitsu nodded then jumped down from the roof, and landed with out a sound. He vanished just as quickly as he appeared.

"I still say you shouldn't trust _vampires_ to do this job. _My_ men could do this job just as well and not draw any attention." Lisha said.

"I know. But they have been wanting to get out of the house and have some fun. Besides it's time they earned their keep."

"It's your call Jin. And I'll respect your decision."

"Thank you," Jin looked up at the sky. It was just a little lighter. "It's almost dawn. You should probably get going, and I should wake the boys. Good Morning Lisha." Jin held out her hand.

"Good Morning Jin." Lisha clasped her arm about half way between Jin's wrist and elbow, Lisha let go, she pulled up the hood of her cloak and disappeared in to the fading shadows. Jin sighed and jumped down off the roof.

"One more day of travel. By tonight we should be in the Court, and hopefully by tomorrow, if everything goes as planned we'll have Eiji and we'll get home with out a problem. If everything doesn't go as planned, then it's going to be war, and I'll be on my own." Jin opened the door to the cabin and went inside. After getting everyone out of bed, having a quick breakfast, and proving to Momo that she was stronger then he was, they were on the way.

"My back hurts." Momo complained as the group bounced along over some terrain that was too rough for the horses to canter on.

"It wouldn't hurt if you hadn't challenged Jin. I did try to tell you that she was stronger then you, Momo. But you didn't listen." Fuji said from his place on top of Ayame* a horse that looked like she had steeped in a bucket of paint. Part of her front leg was white when the rest of her was brown.

"She didn't have to throw me over her shoulder." Momo complained. Aurelia*, the beautiful golden colored horse that Momo was riding, blew out a puff of air.

"I agree completely." Fuji said to the horse.

"Why do you do that?" Momo asked. Ryoma was riding on the other side of Momo, looked over.

"Do what?" Fuji asked with a smile.

"Act like the horses can talk. After all every one knows they caaaaaannnnn'ttttttttt!" Momo said as Aurelia started to try to throw him off. Momo finally when flying over her head and landed in front of Jin and Stormy. Stormy dropped his head down to where Momo was sitting and blew angrily in his face, and pawed at the ground.

"No Stormy. That is not your fight. Let Aurelia handle her rider." Stormy puffed once more at Momo then walked away. Momo stood up gingerly and hobbled over to where Fuji waited with Aurelia.

"That was probably the stupidest thing you could have done," Fuji said his eyes were open and he glared down at Momo, "Every one of these horses is very smart and under stand every word you say. Might I also suggest that you never talk bad about Jin in there presence, for they will kill you on the spot. Every one of them is very protective of there trainer."

"They'd kill me?" Momo asked not quite believing what he was hearing.

"Jin trained them to fight in a battle, to protect there riders at all costs. So be very careful what you say. And be glad that you got off easy this time." Fuji clicked his tongue softly at Ayame. She walked forward to join the others. Fuji came up next to Jin. She nodded at him then saw some thing over his shoulder that she didn't like.

"Oh, shit." She whispered. Stormy turned to look at the incoming riders. Who ever they were, they were in a hurry. The horses were coming at them at full speed.

"Time for plan B." Jin said.

"What's plan B?" Fuji asked. By now, the riders had drawn their swords.

"Just follow my lead." Jin said. When the riders were in hearing distance Jin held up her hands.

"We surrender." She shouted across the space still separating them. Fuji did a double take.

"WE SURRENDER!?!?!?" Fuji yelled at Jin as the door to the cell closed. "What the hell was that about? You could have jus-"

"Fuji shut up. Ok? You have been screaming since those boys first got to us. Now. Shut. The. Hell. UP." Jin removed her hand from around his mouth. Jin sighed as she looked out through the barred door. Looking up and down the hallway, she saw no signs of any guards. She crossed her arm over her chest and turned around. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Oishi watching her. Jin tapped her arm twice, the movement was so small that you would only see it if you were looking for it. Oishi blinked slowly. Jin uncrossed her arms, pulled back her hair in to a ponytail, and walked over to Tezuka.

"Please under stand that I respect you very much and I am only doing this to keep you alive." Jin said right before she punched him in the face. The next five seconds happened in a blur, after that there were only two people left standing. Jin looked at Oishi.

"Let's go." Jin steeped over and on (Fuji) people as she made her way to the door. She pressed the palm of her hand against the back of the lock, and half a second later the door was unlocked. Jin opened the door and the two stepped out in to the dimly lit hallway. Oishi closed the door behind them. The two walked down the hallway, side by side, and in steep with each other. Both knew exactly where they were going. The first guard they came upon was after they rounded a corner.

"Hey what are…" He was unconscious before he could even finish the thought. Jin and Oishi continued on their way. When they came upon the office for the captain of the guard and they just walked in as if they owned the place. The captain put up a bit more of a fight but like every one else, he to was quickly taken care of. Oishi and Jin quickly gathered up their weapons and cloaks. Both quickly walked out of the office. Oishi headed to the left.

"Oishi, where are you going," Jin asked, "That's the front door. Rule of thumb, when ever you are invading someone else's home, you always go in through the back door." She walked in the opposite direction. Oishi followed with out question. She had been here more recently then he had. Jin led him to the very back wall. It was covered with crisscrossing pipes that made a perfect ladder if you knew how to climb straight up polished steel, with no mechanical help. It was impossible to tell how high it went for it faded to darkness. Jin pulled on a pair of gloves that had the fingers cut out, and handed a pair to Oishi.

"Some of the pipes become jagged up towards the top. A result of one of Matteo's experiments." She told him.

"Who's Matteo?" Oishi asked as he watched Jin crouch then jump up to grab one of the horizontal pipes.

"He's an Italian that has a way with anything mechanical or electronic," Oishi jumped up after her, "Don't worry, you'll know him when you see him. He usually has on this big coat that he can pull anything out of. And he always seems to have a cat with him." Jin continued to talk and climb up the pipes like she did it every day, while Oishi was already becoming winded. Soon Jin disappeared in to the darkness.

"Are you doing all right?" Jin's voice echoed down to him after about five minutes.

"Oh, I'm fine," Oishi said.

"Ok, your almost at the our stop." Oishi keep on climbing.

"Stop. Come back down." Jin said from below him. Oishi slid back down a few feet before he felt something wrap around his wrist and tug him to the right. He followed the tugging. What ever it was that was pulling him around left as soon the passageway he was walking through started to become light. Jin was leaning against a wall, her foot pressed against it. Oishi walked up to her and was about to ask her why she had stopped when she raised her hand, signaling him to be silent. A group walked by laughing and making a lot of noise. In the center of the group was Eiji. He looked scared but completely aware of what was happening.

"Looks like the drugs wore off," Jin said as she grabbed a hold of Oishi's arm to keep him from jumping out. "Wait, they need to leave this hallway first." The group rounded the corner and their laughter faded. Jin and Oishi followed silently. When they rounded, the same corner the group went around it was empty. Oishi was about to yell at Jin when she opened a door. Inside was the group of about twenty men …and Eiji.

"Gentlemen, hand over your captive, I won't kill you and I'll give you some of the credit for his capture as well." Jin said. The men laughed. Every one of the dirt covered, road weary men laughed. The apparent leader of the group was sitting behind Eiji; he wrapped an arm around the red head's shoulders and pulled Eiji against him. The red head let out a squeak when the mans' other hand started petting his hair.

"No. I rather like him where he is, thanks," The man's dirt crusted face split in to a grin, revealing pearly white teeth. "But since your looking for a fight, we'll give you one." The other men sitting around the room all reached for there weapons.

"Very well. I see this concludes negotiations." Jin said. Eiji whimpered softly, terrified that he was going to see his best friend kill. A small smile formed on Jin's face. Not a sweet gentle 'everything is going to be all right' smile, it was the type of smile that will give even the most battle hardened warrior reason to tremble. Then she disappeared. She reappeared crouched behind and to the side of a man that was in between her and her goal. That was his mistake. He fell to the ground, blood welling up from a knife wound in his chest.

"Are you still sure you don't want to hand him over, my offer still stands." Jin said as she stood up and wiped the bloody knife on a red cloth she pulled out of her pocket. The leaders face turned purple with rage.

"KILL THEM!" he bellowed. The cloaks came off, Jin's hair was whipped back in to a messy bun, and the fight was on. Jin and Oishi stayed low to the ground.

Jin and pulled out only one of her two sais, in her other hand she held a throwing dagger. For Oishi, his only visible weapon was a short sword. The two of them quickly killed everyone in the room but the leader.

Jin would grab on to one guy, kick of the ground, swing around him, bash in the face of some one behind him, and slit the throat of the guy she had grabbed a hold of. Oishi would just stab them in the backs, chest, or if the opportunity arose, slit their throats. Oishi and Jin stood up from the mess they had made; they looked at Eiji and the man. Eiji's eyes were wide with fright, but that was not because of Jin and Oishi.

The leader had a knife pressed against the red head's throat. Oishi took a steep towards them but stopped when the knife pressed deeper in to the soft flesh. Blood welled up under the pressure of the knife and spilled down his neck, stopping in the hollow of his throat. Eiji whimpered in pain, and Oishi growled softly. Jin softly placed a hand on Oishi's arm. She quickly concluded that the injury in Eiji's neck was neither large nor deep, for it had not bled much beyond the initial cut. Jin calmly flicked her wrist, almost as if to say, 'I don't care'.

What the man didn't see was the small dart that Jin had thrown when she did that. It hit the soft flesh of his shoulder. His entire arm went numb, the knife dropped from his fingers.

"Eiji." Jin called softly. The poor boy didn't have to be told twice. He was in Oishi's arms in two seconds. The leader roared and charged at Jin. She calmly sank her sai into his chest.

"I win." Was all she said before she pushed him back, and he fell to the floor. Jin turned around on her heel and walked out, with Oishi and Eiji following behind her. Jin told them to head down to the third door on the left and wait for her there. Jin turned back to look at the room, the floor covered with dead bodies and drying blood. Jin sighed softly.

She waved her hand as her eyes started to glow soft gold. The stone floor of the room shifted, rippled, and looked very much like the sea. The stones started to fall away one at a time without a sound, the bodies disappearing along with them. When the room was empty of both the floor and the dead men, the stones reappeared. After the floor was solid again, Jin looked over the room. She pursed her lips at the sight of the fresh blood that was still on the stones. But she shrugged her shoulders and left, quietly closing the door behind her. No one would notice the new blood on the floor after it dried.

Jin entered the room where Oishi and Eiji were waiting. She closed the door softly behind her, and meet Oishi's eyes from across the room. Oishi was sitting in the only chair in the room. Eiji was in front of him, the red heads head resting on one of his partner's thighs, his eyes staring at nothing. Jin nodded softly to Oishi before she went over to Eiji and pressed her fingers in to his temples. Eiji's head fell forward slightly as his eyes slid closed.

Oishi stood up from the chair and stood in front of Eiji. The conversation he and Jin had later after he had left the library came back to mind.

_There was a knock at the door, soft and gentle, but there none the less. Oishi was laying one the bed he and Eiji had shared last night. He didn't want to see anyone right now. But he had the strangest feeling that if he didn't who ever was one the other side would get vary pissed off at him. Oishi sighed as he sat up._

"_It's unlocked." He said. The door opened just enough to allow the knocker to slide through. Jin closed the door softly behind her and walked across the stone floor to the bed where Oishi was sitting, her __bare feet__ not making a __sound__. Jin stopped at the end of the bed a leaned against one of the four posts that held up the canopy. It was then that Oishi noticed just how small she was._

"_Yes I have always been this short," Jin said as she hopped up on to the end of the bed, answering Oishi's unasked question._

"_Just how tall are you?"_

"_Five two__." Jin said as she made her self more comfortable._

"_You've seemed taller."_

"_It's just a trick of the mind. I only __weigh 95__ pounds as well." Oishi nodded absently, not caring about the conversation anymore. He turned his head to look out the window, though there was nothing really to see, for the night had settled over the castle and its grounds._

"_Oishi," Jin said softly so as not to startle him, "When we get to the Court it is imperative that you act like you don't know or care about Eiji. And…he can't know you." Oishi turned his head back to Jin._

"_What are you talking about?" The boy asked softly._

"_I'm going to have to block some of his memories, mainly all of his memories from the last three years."_

"_YOU CAN NOT ERASE HIS MEMORIES!" Oishi shouted._

"_I'm not going to erase them," Jin replied calmly, "I'm just going to block them. He will still have all his memories; he just won't remember he has them." Oishi leaned back against the headboard, he didn't like the idea but he remembered watching Jin and Fuji spar in the gym. He knew not to mess with someone like that, especially since he hadn't used any of his skills in the last __three years__._

"_What good will that do us, if he doesn't have his memories?"_

"_I have a feeling that his 'royal highness'," Jin said sarcastically, "doesn't necessarily want Eiji, but you. He's figured out that he can get to you through Eiji, and the red head is just a plus."_

"_So by me seeming indifferent to the whole thing…"_

"_Everything will be so much easier."_

"_How is the block going to be undone? Time locked?"_

"_Having a time limit on anything is basically saying __'after this time the plan is going to go to hell any way__'. I never use time limits if I can help it. The block is going to be password coded, and have voice recognition, your voice."_

"_What's the password?" Oishi asked. Jin leaned forward and told him._

"It's done." Jin said as she pulled her hands away from Eiji. Oishi allowed his mask to fall in to place. The red head opened his eyes. He looked like a scarred rabbit.

"Where-" was all he got out before Jin roughly forced his head down to look at the floor.

"Property does not speak unless spoken to. If you keep your head down, do what your told, and don't talk you might actually survive a week. Now, stand up." Jin said as she released his head. Eiji stood up, but kept his head down.

"Good, it can actually learn. You might survive for more then a week. Follow." Jin, Oishi, and Eiji left the room.

"Fuji, wake up," Ann yelled as she shook his shoulders, "You're as bad as your brother in getting up." She mumbled and slapped him across the cheek. Fuji sat straight up and stared at the wall in front of him. Kind of like a zombie.

"I'm going to kill her." Fuji said as he stood up.

"You and every one else in the room." Yuta said.

"What are we going to do?" Chitose asked.

"We are going to make sure everyone is alright, then track down Jin so Fuji can kill her." Ann said.

"Where are we going?" Oishi asked Jin as they turned down yet _another_ hall he didn't recognize.

"To the throne room, where else would we go?"

"This is not the way to the throne room!" Oishi exclaimed softly.

"Are you sure," Jin asked as she grabbed Eiji's arm, "I wouldn't run if I were you. Compared to some of the other people in this place, I am as gentle as a rose. So, no running." She pushed Eiji to walk in front of them.

"You haven't been in this place for many years. It's changed."

"Roses have thorns, Jin." Oishi said as they walked on.

"You only cause yourself to bleed if you're not careful with them."

"Where are we going?" Ann asked as they stepped out of the dungeons.

"To the throne room. That is where Jin will go." Fuji said as he pulled up the hood of the cloak he wore.

Finally Jin, Eiji, and Oishi reached an area that had more people in it.

"We're just out side the throne room," Jin said as she pulled the two boys to the side. She looked over the crowd of people gathered out side the throne room; she spied a few people in long black flowing coats. She caught the attention of one of them and nodded softly. All of them slid silently in to the throne room. Jin was about to move towards the door when she caught sight of a group of cloaked figures moving towards the entrance.

"Shit, I thought they would take longer to get out," Jin whispered as she pulled the two boys deeper into the shadows, "Hopefully they find a spot close to the back. I don't want them to have a front row seat of what is going to happen."

"Why, what are you expecting to have happen?" Oishi asked as he looked over Jin's shoulder.

"We will probably have to spar. Oh, and please try to control your self when his majesty starts pawing at the red head. He'll be doing it just to make you angry."

"Why would he-" Eiji started to ask before Jin yelled at him to shut up.

"Let's go." Jin said as she grabbed Eiji and dragged him behind her and through the doors.

"Where are they?" Ann asked as she tried to look over the shoulders of the people in front of her.

"I don't know they should be here." Fuji said as he to looked around.

"Is that them coming in the door now?" Takashi asked as he pointed to the three people that had just come in. Fuji moved towards them, but Jin raised her hand so it was parallel with the floor. Fuji stopped.

"I hope she knows what she's doing." The tensai whispered to himself as she went back to stand beside his captain.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Oishi asked.

"Do we have another choice?" Jin responded. She shoved a woman out of her way as they walked down the center of the hall. Whispers flew all around them as people started to part for them.

"When you leave with Eiji be sure to wrap him in the second cloak that you have on. It will protect him."

"What are you planning?" Oishi asked now vary worried.

"Nothing that concerns you," Jin responded, "Now smile." Jin and Oishi looked at the throne that held his royal highness (or as Jin likes to call him 'his royal high ass'). The man sitting on the throne was about thirty five, he had medium length brown hair and was of medium build. When he saw Jin, Oishi and Eiji he waved off who ever was talking to him and opened his arms to the group, as though he was a father welcoming home his children after a long trip.

"Welcome back, my children." Yep even sounds like a father.

"It is always an honor your majesty." Jin said as she bowed low. Oishi followed a second after her. Both of them smacked Eiji in the back of his knees so he fell forward.

"You may rise." Said the king. Jin and Oishi straitened but each put a hand on Eiji shoulders to keep him on the ground.

"Bring him to me." He said. Jin yanked Eiji to his feet and shoved him forward. Eiji stumbled in to the kings arms. He wrapped his arms around Eiji and started to pet his hair. Oishi's hands clinched in to fists and he was about to take a steep forward, but Jin stomped on his foot. Oishi closed his eyes, opened them, and whipped around to look at her. Jin just had a sweet innocent smile on her face.

"I do believe you just stepped on my foot, _my lady_." Oishi said with strained politeness.

"Oh, my _greatness apologies_, my good sir, for I did not see _your foot_ there upon the _floor_." Jin responded in kind.

"My good king my I please have permission to challenge this _low_ born child to a dual."

"Ha, low born I may be, but no as low as you _pickpocket_. I will accept your challenge my _good sir_, if his highness will permit it."

"I grant you leave to challenge her. And she has already accepted, so let the challenge begin." The king said. Jin and Oishi took off their cloaks and picked up the weapons that the king's guards offered them.

"I really hope she doesn't kill him." Ann said.

"She won't," Fuji said. He leaded over to talk to me. "How are they doing?" Well how am I supposed to know, I'm back here keeping tabs on your guys conversation.

"Well get back up there and keep tabs on them. They are the main part of the story right now. And I thought you were the writer aren't you supposed to know everything?" _Writer_, singular. I can't be in two places at once. Now where did they go?

"How did Oishi get up into the rafters? And where's Jin? Never mind found her." Fuji said. Jin and Oishi were running over, across, on top, and around the rafters of the hall. Most of the archers up there were having a hard time keeping their footing when Jin or Oishi ran past. Finally both of them hit the ground. They kept fighting until the king called the fight to a halt.

"I do believe that this is going to get no where fast and that the two of you are evenly matched. So you are excused and may enjoy the rest of your day. And thank you for my gift." He said as he waved away Oishi and Jin. Eiji looked at them, his eyes begging for help. He had been struggling quietly through out the challenge. Jin took a steep towards the throne.

"If I may be so bold my king, I can have him ready for you by tonight if you will allow me." Jin said as she bowed low. Oishi gathered up both of their cloaks.

"Yes you may, but remember how I like them." he said as he shoved Eiji back towards her. Jin caught him easily enough. She turned around and collected her cloak from Oishi.

"Take him." Jin whispered to Oishi and she gently pushed Eiji in front of him. Oishi pulled off the second cloak he was wearing and wrapped it around Eiji's shoulders. Jin stopped before she disappeared into the crowd of people. Oishi and Eiji kept walking. Oishi leaned down and whispered in his ear "Eiji I have always loved you and always will. Come back to me Eiji, please." Eiji blinked his eyes a few times then his foot steeps faltered.

"Keep walking." Oishi whispered in his ear as he pulled up the hood of the cloak. Eiji listened and followed Oishi's whispered directions and the soft pushes and pulls on his hips.

By this time the king has realized that Jin has not left.

"Is there something you need, my dear?"

"Yes, there is. I want you to steep down from that throne and give it back to the Cooper family that you stole it from." Jin said loud enough for the whole room to hear. The hall fell slight. Then…

"GAURDS!" the king bellowed.

All hell broke lose.

*Pronounced 'eh ree'. It means 'blessed with reason'.

*Pronounced 'as RAHR'. It means 'secret'.

*Pronounced 'AH yah meh'. It means 'Iris'

*Pronounced 'aw REL yah'. It means 'Golden'.


	11. Chapter 9

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 9

"GUARDS!" the king bellowed.

Jin had been expecting that. Her fight with Oishi was just a warm up.

The people in the crowd ran screaming. They didn't want to see what was about to happen.

Jin crouched and leapt to her right, avoiding a volley of arrows from above. Nine figures that had been fighting against the flow of the crown moved out. Two of them jumped up to the rafters and began killing guards or knocking them off. One guard the had missed was aiming at the Seigaku tennis team, who had not moved yet. Somebody shouted to the rafters. As the guard was losing the arrow, a hand emerged from his chest, through his heart and caught the arrow. It was covered in blood.

The hand was retracted, dropping the arrow to the ground, and the guard fell to the floor with a dull thud. Fuji looked up and saw a pair of shining purple eyes. He stood transfixed. As he watched, the figure brought his had up to his mouth and licked the blood off his fingers. The silence was shattered by a scream, yanking Fuji back to reality.

Spinning around, he found one of the guards running at Momo. Something black hit the ground beside him, but it was gone before he could react. Momo was shoved aside, and a red headed boy took a blow to the chest instead of Momo being impaled. The black haired boy scrambled up from the ground to look at the scene before him. Momo looked at he boy, horrified. The guard's sword was going right into the boy's heart. The boy's eyes were closed, and the guard was sneering.

Suddenly, the boy opened his eyes. They were purple. He took a step towards the guard, the sword emerging from his back. He grabbed the now frightened guard by the shoulders and pressed himself against him.

He looked at the guard and said, "A word of advice. It's kind of hard to kill someone who's already dead." That was all the mysterious boy said before he leaned his head to the side and bit the guard's neck. The guard cried out once before he was dropped to the ground. The red heads face twisted into a look of pure disgust.

"Uh …these guys taste nasty," said the red head as he pulled the sword out of himself, a soft hiss of pain left him as he did so. "Oi, Momo-chan, don't eat these guys they taste horrible." The red head yelled across the hall that was not empty of civilians.

"Kay, Eiji-sempi." A black spiky haired boy yelled back. Another guard came running at the reed head, and he simply decapitated the guy with one swing of his sword. The purple eyed boy dropped the sword and shook his hands.

"Ugg …I hate humans. Their so messy."

"Well, then I guess the feeling is mutual." Jin said appearing behind him.

"Then shall we decide on a truce." The rd head said and he held out his hand.

"Indeed." Jin said and they shook hands. Then Jin surveyed the mess in the hall.

"Fubar!" she said before she stomped off. Inui looked at Fuji questioningly.

"Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition." Fuji supplied. Jin looked around on the floor as she walked looking for something or someone. She turned her back on the throne and someone jumped up off the floor, knife in hand. It was the king bruised and bloody but alive none the less. Jin slid under his arm, grabbed his wrist, spun herself around and threw him into the wall by the throne. He shoved the throne to the side and reviled a secret passage cut into the stone wall behind the throne (A.N. I know I know really bad way to try to get him out of the room but I couldn't come up with anything else that sounded right). Jin bent down and picked up a down and about five arrows. She notched an arrow and pulled back the bow string, looking like the goddess Diana. Jin released the arrow.

"Don't call me Diana, she's a bitch." Jin said as she notched another arrow. Sorry. The first arrow hit the king in his thigh, he shouted out in pain. Jin released the second arrow and it imbedded in his shoulder. Jin notched one more arrow and was about to release it when a yell echoed across the hall.

"JIN, DON'T!" she never even hesitated. The arrow sailed through the air in a perfect arc, and hit the king in his heart. Jin lowered the bow. Her eyes faded from a harsh gold to a soft hazel. She turned to look at the man that had shouted at her. She had a soft smile on her face.

"Is there something you wanted, darling?" she asked/

"You promised me you wouldn't kill him. I didn't want my rule to begin with a bloody feud." Said a red haired man standing over be Eiji.

"I made no such promise, George. If I hadn't killed him, you would have been thrown off your throne and dead in a week. Speaking of throne's your going to need a new one," Jin said and looked pointedly at the throne that was lying on its side, the back broken off.

"'Maru, you so muck as lick him and you will go from undead to dead in two seconds, I don't give a damn what your mate says." Jin looked at the red head standing behind George. 'Maru slinked over to Fuji.

"She scares me." He whispered. Fuji smiled sweetly.

"She scares everyone. Parallel universe?" Fuji asked.

"Yep." 'Maru answered keeping an eye on Jin.

"Vampires?"

"Yep."

"Nice."

"You know I do have a few thrones I could let you look at and give you to use. Or you know what, I'll just give you queen Elizabeth's throne. I never liked it anyway." Jin said as she started poking random bodies with and arrow to make sure they were dead.

"Queen Elizabeth? Jin, that thing is priceless. You just can't give it away." Fuji said.

"I don't care, I don't need it, I don't use it, and it's to gaudy anyway. Or I could give him yours." Jin said.

"You still have that thing?" Fuji asked.

"Of course I do," Jin said as she walked out of the hall, "I keep it in a room labeled 'blackmail'. Along with that lovely balled you thought up for …oh, what was her name …oh yes, Catharine. Let me see, how did it go…"

"Don't you dare!" Fuji said as he took off after her. Everyone followed Jin, probably not the best idea in the world but oh well. Jin skipped down the hallway singing, loudly and off key (on purpose, she can sing very beautifully when she wants to) but singing, and Fuji following behind her trying to get her to shut up. Jin skipped all the wat to the stables. She hopped up on to Stormy and kept right on singing until Fuji chucked an apple at her.

"For the last time …SHUT UP!" Fuji said as he hopped up on to his horse.

"But, why? Tis so much fun." Jin said.

"You're a bitch." Fuji said as he watched Oishi help Eiji up on to Charger. After everyone was on a horse (minus the vampires) they were off. It didn't take Oishi long to catch up to Jin.

"So, who is George any way," he asked, "I've never met him." Jin smiled.

"George Cooper is a direct descendent of the first leader of the rouge court. But he is the only one left of his line. Now that he is back on his throne everything will be better. Though I should probably be asking you what you're going to do."

"Wha?" Oishi looked at her, confused.

"Your secret's out. Fuji won't care. He's use to dealing with me. But what about everyone else? You're no longer who they thought you were. The way they're going to see it, is that you lied to them for three years. That's not how I see it though."

"How do you see it?"

"You didn't tell them the truth, that's no lying. You were trying to protect them; you were running from your past. Take your pick …all three work." Jin said.

"You don't care." Oishi said stunned.

"Of course I don't. You should see all the trouble I get myself into when I have nobody around to babysit me."

"Really what type of trouble do you get your self into?" Oishi asked curious now about what this girl did with her free time.

"Oh the usual, robbing banks, black mailing politicians, plotting world domination, burning down the house. You know …typical teenager stuff." Jin said with a smug smile as she urged Stormy into a trot.

"She calls that 'typical teenager stuff'? Who does she hang out with?"  
Oishi asked.

"That would be me." Said a voice right next to his ear. Oishi stiffened and turned his head very slowly. There, seeming to be hovering in mid air was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen, black hair that went every were, a large brown coat, glasses, and he appeared to have some Italian lineage. And he was about three inches away from Oishi's face.

"HI!" said the Italian, Oishi jumped sideways, and would have been fine …if he hadn't been on top of a horse.

"Ack!" Oishi yelled as he fell off, Choukichi* his horse, who turned his head and blew a puff of air at the Italian.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make him fall off." He said to Choukichi

"Who are you?" Oishi asked as he picked himself up off the ground.

"No it's not 'who are you'. It's 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?' and 'WHERE THE HELL ARE WILL AND MIKE?" Jin yelled as she hopped of Stormy.

"Why do you want to know?" said the Italian

"One, because you are a threat to society, and two, so I can kick their asses for letting you run around. And aren't you supposed to be fixing the sli- …a very big engine right now, Matteo?" Jin said.

"Oh, I finished that up hours ago, and since I was in the neighborhood I thought I would p[ay you a visit. And what do you mean 'I'm a threat to society'? Have you looked in the mirror recently?" Matteo said as he walked over to Jin.

"Oh, don't you start with me. I know what happens when you get board. Hi, Alex." Jin said and reached up to pet the cat that poked its head out of Matteo's hood.

"And what happens when I get board?" Matteo asked.

"You tear things apart …with your bare hands," Jin grabbed one of Matteo's hands and held it up. It was dirty, covered in black stuff, dirt under his finger nails, and covered in small cuts and burns.

"You completely rewired my computer, my cell phone, my iPod, the cable connection. You dismantled the CD player in my room and put it back together but not it picks up messages from the galactic shipping company. I don't need to know that power couplings along with hatches for the incubator nursery are being shipped to Raxacoricofallapatorius! And you did all of that in under two hours. Now I am only going to ask this one more time. WHERE ARE WILL AND MIKE!?" Jin shouted.

"I don't know. They were right behind me. Maybe I lost them around Rome," Matteo said as she handed Jin a cell phone, "Here, call them."

"This is my cell phone. HOW DID YOU GET MY CELL PHONE!? It was in my back pocket." Jin asked as she started trying to hit him with a very long stick. Where did she get that from anyway? Matteo laughed as she tried to hit him, but he just kept jumping him out of the way.

"If fell out." Mateo said.

"Bullshit." Jin walked a little way away from the group grumbling to herself as she punched in a number on her phone. There was a sound to the left and something fell out of a tree and landed on something else that went 'ouf'. Two boys stood up from the ground. One of them had light brown hair, and had either European or German heritage, he is known as William, but everyone calls him Will. The other one was short; he had short black hair and was very clearly of a southern Asian decent, with his dark skin tone, known as Mike.

"Um …Mike I think your pants are vibrating."

"That's impossible Will, for I have nothing in my pants that can vibrate," said Mike, then his pants started playing the Imperil march from Star Wars, "Except my cell phone."

"I think Lord Vader is calling." Will said as he ducked behind a tree.

"'Lord Vader' is going to kill both of you. I told you to keep an eye on him!" Jin said as she walked over to Will and Mike.

"We did. WE watched him pick the lock on the cage, open the door, walk up the stairs, out of the building, sneak out of town, walk two miles to the south, hale a taxi, go to the airport, and fly to America. Then we watched him fix the slipstream drive, go back to the airport and fly to Rome. Then we lost him."

"What were you doing in Rome?" Jin asked.

"Mike was hungry." Will said.

"You and your stomach," Jin mumbled to herself as she stomped over to Stormy and got back on.

"I am going home. I'm going to have a long hot shower and go to bed. I will see you all in the morning. Except for you three," Jin pointed to Will, Mike, and Matteo, "You three will be out of the house and back where you belong before I wake up tomorrow."

A.N. Ok I am cutting out a big section of the story here. But I want all of my fabulous readers to understand something very important. WHAT I CUT OUT IS NOT IMPORTANT TO THE REST OF THE STORY. Ok are we all clear? All I cut out was the rest of the trip back to the house, which took about an hour, because somehow Matteo can bend space. I don't know how and I don't want to know hoe, but he does. I could write what happened, but that would take about ten pages, so no. And I'm a senior in high school, so I don't have time to write down a ten page one hour trip. No. There are some things that need to be done in order for me to graduate. Ok back to the story.

Jin sighed as she sat down on one of the couches in the family room. Despite everything there was still a report to write.

"Stupid paper work." Jin said as she opened a report folder. She was about half way through reading the information when her cell phone started vibrating.

"Hello." She said tiredly as she continued reading the report.

"Hello darling." Said as gentle voice on the other end. Jin smiled softly as she closed the folder and leaned back deeper into the couch.

"How are things with you?" Jin asked.

"Everything's fine. But I should be asking you how you are. No injuries or anything, love? Everyone fine?"

"Don't call me that." Jin said.

"Then what do you want me to call you? Sweetie, honey, sugar, baby, baby doll, doll, or darlin'?" He asked.

"Just 'Jin' is fine."

"You're smiling. I can hear it in your voice." He said.

"Sei-…"

"No, not right now. I just wanted to call and let you know that Gemini saw that Oishi was still up. He's standing on the east balcony, top floor. And I just wanted to hear your voice. Good night Jin. I'll see you soon."

"Night." Jin whispered in to the phone. She hung up.

"I love you even though I can't bring myself to tell you." She said to the silent house. With a sigh she pushed herself up off the couch.

"Uh, I'm getting old. Maybe I'll use the next time through for a vacation. Oh, yeah that does sound nice, I think I will." Jin mumbled to her self as she walked up the stairs. She took the same path Oishi took just two days before. Jin opened the seventh door on the left hand side of the hall, went up the stairs, down a hallway, a left, and up the second flight of stairs. There standing in front of her with his back to the door was Oishi. He had his arms resting on the railing, his shoulders hunched, and his head hanging down. He looked completely depressed.

Jin walked up next to him, turned around so that her back was facing the view and hopped up to sit on the railing. She crossed her legs at the ankles and looked up above her at the stars. She sat silently waiting for the boy next to her to speak.

"They hate me." He whispered so quietly that Jin almost didn't hear him.

"They don't hate you. They're just scared; you're no longer who they thought you were. Give them time; this all came at them at once. But my question is; which mask are you going to put back on. The tennis player," Jin held out one hand, "or the thief," she held out the other, "or are you going to try to ware both," she brought her hand together, "It is possible but difficult. Oishi," Jin touched his shoulder. The taller boy turned his head to look at her, "on one ever said life would be easy. They just promised it would be worth it."

"I'm finding that hard to believe at the monument."

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you can appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together. Everything will work out in the end …trust me." Jin said as she hopped down off the railing.

"How do you know?" Oishi asked as he pushed off the railing and walked away.

"Because your family. You'll change the world." Jin whispered into the quite night. A dark shadow dropped down beside her.

"You don't believe half of that shit you just told him."

"No I don't. But he needed a pep talk, Matteo, I just gave him one." Jin said. She turned to look out at the dark trees. She waved, and a raven's call echoed through the silent night.

Oishi walked down to the room he shared with Eiji. He sighed softly as he opened the door. It closed softly beside him. He looked over at the bed and saw that it was empty. Oishi panicked for a moment before he noticed that there was someone sitting in the window seat. The red hair softly illuminated by the moon light. Oishi walked over to him, and waited for the yelling to start.

"Why?" The red head asked softly, not turning to look at his partner.

"I didn't want anyone to get hurt," Oishi said. Eiji turned to look at him, question written on his face.

"If I had told anyone and this had gotten out. Everyone I had come in contact with could have been killed. The Court is very secretive. And I like how simple life was. I could …" Oishi dropped to his knees next to the seat as he tried to get his thoughts in order, "I could pretend for just little while that I was normal, that everything that had happened to me had happened to someone else. And as selfish as it sounds …I just wanted to stay close to you."

"Wha…"

"Somewhere along the line I fell in love with you. But I promised myself I wouldn't drag you down with me. I'll go sleep down stairs," Oishi stood up; he reached out a hand as if to touch Eiji's face but stopped before he touched him. Balling his hand into a fist he pulled back. His arms hung limp at his sides as he took a step back.

"Good bye Kikumaru." _I've never had the right to call him by his given name_ Oishi thought to himself he walked toward the door.

The black haired boy heard the sound of running before he felt Eiji collide with his back. Thin but strong arms wrapped around him and grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt so hard that the knuckles turned white. With a wet spot growing on the back of his shirt Oishi tried to get the red head to let go.

"Don't cry. I'm not worth it. Don't worry, everything will be better. You'll forget all about me and find someone who can make you happy. You don't need me." Oishi whispered as he continued to gently tug Eiji's fingers from his shirt. Eiji shook his head and held on tighter.

"But I do need you. No matter what happens you're always there for me. You make me laugh and smile even though I don't want to. Just the sound of your voice calms me down. I don't want to lose you. And I know that if you walk out that door I'll never see you again. Please don't leave me, please." Eiji whispered through the sobs. His fingers had lost feeling by this time but he didn't care.

"Kikumaru …"

"I'm not leaving you." The red head whispered so softly that Oishi almost didn't catch it. A soft breeze blew through the room and it seemed to carry a very simple sentence. _Friendship isn't about who you've known the longest. It's about who came and never left your side._ Oishi sighed again as he finally gave up on trying to get the smaller boy to let go. He couldn't imagine life without the hyperactive red head, and if he was to be honest, he didn't want to.

"I won't leave you. I promise." Oishi whispered as Eiji's arms started to shake from holding on so tight. The taller boy turned around and wrapped his arms around the sobbing red head. Pressing his face into the soft red hair, Oishi inhaled a sent that was purely Eiji. If anyone had asked him to describe it he would have said, sunshine, a summer's breeze, and the sent of trees.

The older boy picked up the red head and carried him over to the bed. Putting him down gently, Oishi took one of his sobbing doubles partners hands and pressed his thumbs into the palm, easing the cramping muscles. Eiji watched as he worked his way up his arm, the red heads sobs quieting then finally stopping altogether.

"Did you mean it?" He finally asked when Oishi moved to his other hand.

"Of course. I'm not going to leave you." He replied, though he had a feeling that that wasn't what Eiji was asking.

"No. About you …falling in love with me?" Oishi thought for a moment before answering.

"Yes, I meant it. But if you don't fell the same thing, that's fine. I …I just want you to be happy, and if that means someone else gets to wake up beside you each morning, then so be it." Oishi let go of his hand and sat back. Eiji crawled over to his partner and settled in his lap. The red head wrapped his arms around Oishi's shoulders.

"Silly," Eiji whispered as he tucked his head under Oishi's chin, "No one else makes me happier. I know that I passed you in tennis a long time ago, but I never asked you for a rematch because I didn't want to lose you as a partner. Besides, singles is lonely." Oishi smiled softly as he brought a hand up to gently run his fingers through Eiji's hair. Oishi gently cupped Eiji's chin and pulled his head up. The taller boy leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the smaller boy's lips.

**WARNING; LEMON INCOMMING **

Eiji shyly opened his mouth to Oishi's probing tongue. Oishi cupped the back of Eiji's head with one hand, and the other stroked down his spine. Gently wrapping his tongue around the red heads, Oishi finally coxed Eiji into using the sweet tasting muscle. The taller boy allowed Eiji to explore his mouth for a bit before he started to suck on the smaller boys tongue.

Eiji moaned softly. It felt wonderful. Then Eiji let out a surprised squeak when Oishi grabbed his ass. With a gasp, the purple eyed boy broke away from the kiss. Oishi worked his way across a flushed cheek, to an equally red ear. He nibbled and sucked on the lobe before pulling away to whisper …

"If you want to stop just tell me." He said softly. Eiji just shook his head with a moan.

"Don't stop …please don't stop …I want –AHHH!" Eiji shouted and arched his back when Oishi pressed a finger against a soft spot at the base of the red head's skull. Smiling gently, Oishi grabbed a hold of the smaller boy's shirt and pulled it up and over his head.

Oishi gently ran his hands over Eiji's shoulders, down his arms, and up his chest. When his thumbs brushed over Eiji's nipples, the red head gasped and arched his back.

"Lay back." Oishi whispered to the gasping boy on his lap. Eiji scooted off his lap and lay back on the bed. Oishi paused for a moment to look at the red head before moving to kiss him. After nipping softly at swollen lips, Oishi kissed his way down the smooth neck. He stopped to suck and nip at the hollow of Eiji's throat. Moaning softly Eiji's hands tangled in the bed sheets. Oishi continued down before he became tempted to leave a mark. He stopped again when he reached the hard pink nipples. He placed a gentle kiss on each one before he set to driving Eiji wild.

Sucking and licking, Oishi listened to Eiji's moans and gasps to judge what worked the best. He continued to drive the red head up the wall until the smaller boy started tugging gently at his hair, whimpering.

"Please …I need…" Eiji lost the ability to think for a moment, when Oishi gently bit one of his nipples. It didn't hurt, for Oishi hadn't meant it to, but it did get the Eiji's attention. Oishi worked his way down Eiji's body again, following a path that only he knew.

The black haired boy pressed an open mouth kiss against the last rib on Eiji's right side. He dug his fingers against the spot right above the red heads left hip. And finally, he nipped at the purple eyed boy's navel, before he plunged his tongue in.

Eiji moaned, gasped, and withered under that talented mouth. But when Oishi started to push his tongue in to his stomach as far as he could and then pull it back out, only to repeat the process again, that was nearly Eiji's undoing.

"Please …please …please …Oishi please..." the red head chanted over and over again. Though he didn't know what he was asking for. Oishi paused for a second before biting down harshly. Eiji arched off the bed with a soft cry of pain.

"What's my name?" The green eyed boy whispered against the smooth stomach.

"Oishi. AHH!"

"Wrong one."

"Shuichiro." Eiji whispered. Oishi licked at the abused skin.

"Good boy." Kissing and licking the forming bruise, Oishi slid one hand over to the fly and button on the red heads jeans. Carefully undoing the button, and unzipping the jeans, Oishi slid his hand in. A strangled moan slid past Eiji's lips, as he tossed his head from side to side. A few tears slid past his tightly closed eyes.

Oishi slid back up Eiji's body until he was hovering over the red head again. Keeping a hold of the red head crock, Oishi gently kissed Eiji's lips again and again, until he could see those shining purple eyes. Stroking the hard object in his hand, Oishi watched as Eiji arched, withered, and moaned as everything flooded through him.

"You're really sensitive aren't you?" Oishi whispered against sweat soaked skin, as he let Eiji have a small break.

"Yeah …just a bit." Eiji panted, as he worked on getting his hand into Oishi's pants. Oishi gasped and arched his back as Eiji finally wrapped a cool hand around his heated arousal. Placing his lips back on his lovers, Oishi started stroking the leaking member that he still held.

With their moans mingling together, Eiji and Oishi worked in unison to bring each other to an orgasm.

*Pronounced CHOH kee chee means lasting luck

I thank you all for being so very patient with me. I had to retype everything from my hard copies. But know I have everything backed up, so as long as my laptop and my jump drive don't crash at the same time, everything will be ok. I am still typing Ch. 10 from the hard copy and should have it up in a few days at the most.

Thank you all again.

Queen Amunet


	12. Chapter 10

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 10

As dawn washed over the woods and the castle, Eiji snuggled deeper into the blankets and tighter against Oishi's side. He was happy to just lay there and listen to Oishi's heart beat. After they had cleaned up from last night, Oishi had laid down on his back and pulled the smaller boy against him. The red head would have been more than happy to lay there for the rest of the day …but his bladder started to protest. Eiji sighed softly and wondered how long he could wait before he had to get up. His bladder started to scream. Clearly he couldn't wait any longer. With a soft groan, Eiji slid out of bed and pulled on a pair of sweat pants that were lying on top of the oak trunk at the end of the bed. He tipped toed across the floor to the door, opened and closed the door as quietly as he could …then made a mad dash down the hall to the restroom.

Eiji sighed softly as he stepped out of the bathroom. It seemed like forever ago that he ran up the hill beside Oishi, racing to get out the pounding rain, when it was only three days. He wondered briefly what else could happen in such a short amount of time. A soft yell caught his attention. The red head walked down the hall towards the gym. HE opened the door and was slightly shocked to see Jin sitting on Kamio and Ann sitting on Yuta.

"You need to be quite. Keep yelling like that and you'll wake the whole house." Jin said softly to Kimio, making no move to her off his back.

"Well excuuuuuuuse me. I wasn't expecting a ninety-five pound pixy to jump on me from out of no where."

"You need to be prepared for _anything_. Including me jumping you." Jin looked up and spotted Eiji.

"Why don't you three go get breakfast started. I'll be down in a bit." Jin said as she got off Kamio. The others left with out a word or complaint. Eiji walked over to Jin.

"What do you need?" The smaller girl asked quietly as soon as the door closed.

"I want you to teach me to fight." Eiji said completely serious. He stood there with his hands in the pockets of his sweat pants. He stared at Jin waiting for her answer.

"Let me guess, you want me to teach you how to 'bar fight'. You want me to teach you how to walk into a fight and walk out of it in one piece. Am I right? I don't teach 'bar fighting' nor do I do it. I teach martial arts, but you would have better luck trying to convince Fuji, Takashi, or even Oishi to teach you. I'm not knid, I'm not sweet and I'm not gentle."

"How do you know that Takashi knows how to fight?" Eiji asked, he had never seen her alone with anyone. There were always at lest two people with her when ever he had the shorter girl.

"He moves like one."

"You can tell that just by the way he moves?"

"Yes. The same way I can tell that you have some skill in acrobatics."

"How?"

"You move with more grace then a regular person. But my point still stands. I'm not the type of person you're going to want to learn from."

"That doesn't matter. I want _you_ to teach me. You're not going to baby me, nor give me any bullshit about how I shouldn't be doing this. I want to be able to protect myself and my friends. I don't want to have to rely on someone to get me out of trouble. Please teach me." Eiji waited for her answer.

"Very well," Jin said, "I shall teach you. But let us see what you remember." And with that warning Jin threw a punch at his face. The red head leaned back and twisted his spine so the punch flew harmlessly in front of his face. He straightened against and looked at Jin his hands still in his pockets. Jin started to throw multiple punches at him at once. Only one hand came out of the pocket to black the punches he couldn't doge. Slowly they worked their way across the gym.

When the opportunity presented its self, Eiji took his other hand out of his pocket, grabbed a hold of Jin's wrist, yanked her off her feet, spun around, and threw her into a wall. When Jin hit the wall her head slammed back against it, and she slid down until she was sitting on the floor, one leg bent up and the other curled around to the side. Eiji blinked a few times and, when he realized what had happened, rushed over to Jin.

"Jin, are you ok," Eiji asked frantically, worried that he might have hurt her, "I'm so sorry, I have no idea what came over me! I just reacted! Are you ok?"

"First; stop screaming, my head hurts. Second; I'm fine, this is not the first time I've gotten thrown into a wall and it won't be the last. Third; I'm not mad, so stop making the pouty face. Now help me up." Jin said the last part as she held out her hands so he could pull her up. Eiji stood and carefully pulled her to her feet.

"Relax, you did everything fine, though I don't expect you to be able to do that again."

"How did I do that in the first place?" the red head asked softly, completely confused about what had just happened.

"Let me ask you something. Do you believe in past lives?" Jin asked.

"Have any of you seen Eiji?" Oishi asked as he walked into the kitchen. He was slightly worried. The red head hadn't been in the room when he had woken up. After he was dressed, and the smaller boy still hadn't shown up, Oishi headed down to the kitchen to see if Eiji had gotten up early to get something to eat. No sign of the purple eyed boy. Oishi didn't care if the others weren't talking to him at the moment; he was more worried about his partner.

After all, it was only yesterday that they got him back, so the vice-captain was feeling a little over protective. A yell was heard in the kitchen along with some very creative cussing in at least five different languages. Jin appeared in the doorway. She turned around to talk to the person behind her.

"Ok, look Eiji. We both know that I'm stronger then you but that does not give you permission to jump on me at any opportunity. You are like, twice my size and twice my weight. You try to jump on me against without permission and I will kick you in the balls. Do not piss off short people." Jin said as she walked into the kitchen. She hopped up onto on of the bar stools that surrounded one of the islands. She picked up a glass of orange juice and drank about half of it in one gulp.

"Words I live by." Fuji said. Ryoma raised his half finished Ponta towards Jin. Jin looked at Ryoma, confusion on her face.

"Where'd you get the pop?"

"Fridge." Ryoma said before he took another mouth full. Jin walked over to one of the stainless steel appliances and opened the door. Inside were about five different cases of Ponta, and the grape one was open (no surprise).

"Was there a note or something on them?" Jin asked.

"Yeah, but it was just some weird symbols. Ann tossed it." Ryoma replied. Jin walked over to the trash can and pulled out the note that was sitting on top. She looked it over. Jin shrugged her shoulders and tossed the paper back into the trash.

"What did it say?" Fuji asked.

"Nothing important." Jin responded.

"There was nothing there to read." Ryoma said.

"It was written in Russian."

"You read Russian?" Inui asked amazed, he made a mental note to write down that little piece of data later.

"Read it, write it, speak it." Jin said. Inui was about to ask something else but Tezuka interrupted him.

"We need to practice today. Is there someplace that we could run and play some tennis?" He asked as he stood up from the table.

"Sure," Jin said as she to stood up and put her empty glass in the sink, "It looks like today is going to be nice. You can use the outdoor tennis courts." She led them to the front room, her bare feet not making any sound as she crossed the tile. When they reached to door Jin looked around as the boys put on their shoes.

"Damn, my shoes are up stairs. Oh, well I'll run around barefoot." And with that she opened the door and walked out …or tried to anyway. Sitting quite calmly in front of the door was a white tiger. And hanging from its mouth was a pair of tennis shoes. Jin stood still, staring at the tiger for less than half a second, then wrapped her arms around the tiger's neck and started talking to it.

"Oh, you're such a good girl." Jin took the shoes from the tiger and put then on without untying them.

"Ok, lets go." Jin walked out the door and the tiger followed her …for about three steps, stopped, turned around, and ran back into the house, up the stairs and disappeared from sight. All of the Regulars stood there is silence, trying to figure out why there was an eight hundred pound cat running around the house. Eiji was the first to recover and finished putting on his shoes.

"You know that that really isn't that much of a shock with everything that has happened in the last two days. I wouldn't be that surprised if a giant fish walked up to me and said 'hello'." The red head said. The tiger came running back down stairs; with a tennis racket in her mouth. Jin, who had slipped back in unnoticed, took the racket from the cat and gave her a scratch behind one of her ears.

"What would I ever do with out you, Tora." Jin said. Tora walked over and rubbed against Fuji's leg. With a startled cry Fuji grabbed a hold of Tezuka's shoulders to keep himself up right as the large cat continued to push him off balance.

"Tora, that's enough. Leave him alone. Come one lets go." Jin turned around and walked out the door.


	13. Chapter 11

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 11

Jin led the team out of the house and down a side path through the woods. As they walked the land dropped suddenly. Large rocks had been pressed into the side of the hill to form rough stairs.

"Be careful, some of the rocks are lose." Jin said as she stepped on to the first stone. It shifted slightly under her weight but other than that nothing happened. The step from rock to rock was very large, even the players with longer legs, like Tezuka and Inui, were having problems. Jin just jumped down from one step to the next, and Ryoma was soon following her example. They reached the bottom of the stairs without incident. They walked in single file, following the path across level ground once again. At last they stepped out of the trees and into a clearing.

In the middle of the clearing was one tennis court. The grass in the clearing was long and soft. It blurred the edge of the court so that it was hard to tell where the grass ended and the court began. The trees around the clearing were tall and old, having stood the test of time like so many others had. At the monument the clearing was completely shadowed, so the air was cool.

Everyone admired the view for a bit before Tezuka started shouting orders. Everyone stretched and warmed up while Tezuka and Tachibana looked over the net to make sure it was still in good condition. Once they decided the net would hold up to them playing Tezuka grabbed his racket out of his bag. As he walked by, Jin grabbed a hold of his sleeve.

"Just to let you know, the sun beats down on the court from about eleven to one. It gets really hot, so if you want to plan a break then I suggest you do it then." Jin said.

"Thank you," was Tezuka's only reply. He walked over to Momo to give him some instructions. Jin huffed softly, then went and sat under a tree. Tora padded over and laid down next to Jin. She watched the boys hit the tennis ball back and forth for a few seconds before she became board and flopped over onto her side, towards Jin. Tora either has really good aim or is just very lucky, but her head ended up in Jin's lap. Jin yelped as a twenty pound head dropped into her.

"You stupid over sized house cat, I am not your pillow. GET…OFF!" Jin said through clenched teeth while she tried to push Tora off her, and when that didn't work her started to tug at the tigers ears. Tora didn't appreciate having her ears pulled and snarled softly at Jin.

"Then get off." Jin responded in kind, but went back to trying to push the massive head off her. Laughter traveled over to where Jin was sitting. She looked up and Tora opened one eye. On the other side of the clearing Ann, Yuta, and Kamio were leaning against each other trying to stay up right as they laughed. They failed miserably. Ann ended up lying on her back clutching her sides as she rolled around, Kamio was on his side rocking as he tried to control his laughter, and Yuta was on his stomach with his head buried in his arms as he tried to get his breathing under control.

"I'm glad you find this funny." Jin said then went back to trying to get the tiger off of her. After about fifteen minutes, Jin finally was able to get the cat off of her. She stood up before the white cat could decide wither or not she liked Jin's lap better than her paws. The three gigglers had finally gotten themselves under control. Jin picked up her racket, and then walked over to Momo. She tapped him lightly on the back of his knee.

"Play me." She said when he turned to look at her. Momo looked at her then smirked.

"I'll go easy on you." He said and walked to his side of the court.

"That won't be necessary." Jin said as she threw the ball up with her right hand. She jumped and hit the ball across the court faster then Momo was expecting. He almost missed the ball. Jin raced to the other side of the court, and hit the ball back. This continued for several minutes before Jin finally missed the ball by just a bit. She smiled at Momo and picked up the ball to serve again.

"She missed on purpose." Ann said softly, almost to her self.

"How do you know that, nya?" Eiji asked before he took a drink out of his water bottle. Ann looked at him before answering.

"This isn't her usual playing style. Either she's trying to make him feel comfortable, or she's just playing with him. Most likely though, she's just trying to warm up." Ann finished talking just as Jin scored a point. The first game finished with Momo's win. As he bounced the ball against the court, Jin bent her knees, and started to shift her weight from foot to foot.

"She's found the rhythm." Kamio said as he watched her dash across the court to hit the little florescent yellow bouncing ball. Jin ran from one side of the court to the other before finally hitting a high lob that landed in the far right back corner of the court.

"She's done." Yuta said.

"She just scored. She's not done." Eiji said.

"Sorry, I meant she's done playing him." Eiji looked back at the court, confused as to what Fuji's little brother was talking about. Then he saw it. Jin was scoring almost every time she hit the ball. Ten minutes later Momo was flat on his back panting and Jin was leaning against the net looking at him.

"Mada mada dane." Jin said then looked over at the (mostly) stunned tennis players.

"FUJI GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE! YOU OWE ME A MATCH!" Jin yelled across the clearing. Fuji crossed his arms.

"No." He said. Jin cocked her head to the side; she blinked, and then walked over to him. She jumped up and grabbed a hold of his ear with one hand; then his tennis racket with the other. She dragged her unwilling opponent on to the court.

"I don't want to play you!" the tensai said as Jin pushed him on to his side of the court.

"Ok, fine. Then don't do anything. Just stand still and let me use you as target practice." Jin said as she bounced the ball.

"I'm not playing you." Fuji said as he tried to walk off the court. A yellow streak flew in front of face, moving his brown hair in the breeze. A tennis ball sat in the grass behind his side of the court. Jin put her tennis racket behind her back.

"Are you just afraid that I'll beat you again," Jin asked.

"Now hold on…" Fuji started to say but Jin interrupted him.

She sighed, "Its fine I understand. You don't want to be embarrassed in front of your friends. You don't want them to see you get beat by a _girl_." Jin mocked. Fuji opened his eyes and glared at her. Jin smiled sweetly.

"Your serve." Fuji said as he moved to stand at the base line. Jin picked up another tennis ball from the grass and served again. Fuji easily returned it, and immediately Jin hit a smash.

"It's Fuji's Higuma Otoshi!" Eiji called.

"Jin's got it." Ann said. Jin was already at the back of the court and returned the ball easily enough. They continued to volley back and forth for five more minutes before Fuji hit a smash at Jin. The smaller girl returned it with the Higuma Otoshi.

"She can copy shots after seeing them once!" Oishi exclaimed

"Hmmm… this is good data!" Inui said as he started writing things down in that ever present annoying note book.

"Forget it Inui. That isn't going to do you any good. And I was the one who taught him the original triple counters." Jin said as the volley continued.

Jin hit the ball, hard. It vanished as soon as it left her racket; then appeared again on Fuji's side of the court just as it bounced up and slammed into his shin. He cried out as he fell forward.

"Play seriously, or you're going to get badly injured again." Jin said as she looked down at Fuji from her side of the net. The brown haired boy grabbed the ball and stood up. He walked back to the base line. Jin served again. Fuji hit the ball back at her with such force and speed that the ball flew past Jin ear, slammed in to the court just inside the line, and bounced off to disappear in the grass. Jin smiled and raised her hand to gently touch her ear. She pulled it back with a wince. There was a friction burn on her ear.

"Much better." Jin said as she bent her knees and rocked up on to the balls of her feet to prepare for Fuji's serve.

"He gave her a friction burn and she says 'much better'?" Oishi asked completely puzzled as to the mental status of this girl.

"Neither one of them is going to allow themselves to feel any pain or exhaustion. That friction burn is pay back for the bruise on his shin," Ann said, she took a sip out of the water bottle she was holding before she continued, "They will play until one of them wins, or the end of the world. Whichever comes first."

Fuji and Jin continued to volley against each other, neither giving a point to the other. Fuji used all six of his triple counters; Jin continued startle the other tennis players, including her opponent.

"97% chance of a base line hit." Jin said as she ran back. Fuji hit a base line ball, and Jin hit it back using Kaido's Boomerang Snake. Kaido hissed softly. Inui scribbled down some data.

Fuji reached the ball just before it bounced the second time. Fuji glanced up to see where Jin was and noticed her doing Eiji's steal step to try to throw him off balance. Fuji smacked the ball back to the Jin on the right.

"No one on my team can beat me so you can stop stealing their moves." Fuji said as he watched Jin flip back words to get the ball. Jin looked like she was going to hit a lob but did something unexpected… she hit Tezuka's drop shot with her right hand.

"No one," Jin asked as Fuji bent over to get the ball, "Do you want to rethink that statement?" She returned to the base line. Jin rocked up on to the balls of her feet as she waited for Fuji to serve. As he threw a ball up into the air, an ice cold wind blew through the clearing. It was the type of wind that belongs in a winter storm, the type that numbs any bare skin. Jin froze then turned her head to look at the trees next to the court. She straightened as the tennis ball flew past her. Scanning the trees she looked for something.

"Jin," Fuji called softly. The girl just ignored him. Her head snapped to the left. Fuji hopped over the net and walked over to black haired girl. He stopped behind her and slightly to the left. He could see how tense her whole frame was.

"It's probably nothing. Just me being paranoid." Jin whispered to her friend.

" You've always said 'better to be cautions then dead.'" The blue eyes boy said just as quietly.

"Yeah." Jin's eyes slid away from where she was looking. At the corner of her vision something shifted, and her eyes snapped back. The shifting stopped, but it was too late. She'd seen it. A shadow within a shadow. And it had the shape of a person.

"Time to go," was all Jin said before she started to drag Fuji off the court. She let go of Fuji so he could pick up his tennis bag.

"Pick up your stuff we're out of here." Jin said as she started to dig through the bag Ann had brought. She pulled out a sleek black object. It was a gun. A M9 pistol to be exact. Jin popped out the clip, cheeked it, then put it back in the gun.

"Did you grab the extra magazines?" Jin asked as she continued to dig around in the bag.

"Of course, they should be in the left zippered pocket. You have always told us the 'expect the unexpected'. Do you seriously think I would have forgotten?" Ann asked. Jin looked at Ann.

"I say nothing." Jin said as she straightened and tucked the extra clips into the front pocket of her jeans. Yes, she's wearing jeans and she kicked Fuji's ass at tennis.

"Nobody won it was a draw, you stupid writer." You still would have won.

"Yes I would have," Jin said smugly, "Alright lets go." She waved the others back the way they came. No one moved.

"Look I don't have time to explain everything, but right now my first priority is making sure all of you are safe. Now would you please get going." Jin ordered. Everyone started back up the path the way they came. Ann and Yuta led the way, Fuji and Kaimo were on the middle outside edge, and Jin brought up the rear.


	14. Chapter 12

Prince of Tennis

Chapter 12

"Keep moving," Jin said as she urged the others to go faster.

"Shouldn't we have reached the hill by now?" Eiji asked. Everyone walked up a slight incline. Jin turned around and walked back words as she scanned the forest on either side. Momo stumbled over a tree root. It was getting harder to see because of the storm clouds that were quickly gathering over head.

"Oh, Susanoo, Fujin*. Not now." Jin whispered softly to the air. A twig snapped to her left. Jin jumped back and squeezed the trigger once. The sound of the gun shot seemed to hang in the silent air. A heavy thump was heard.

"Move. Some one would have heard that." Jin said, as she switched the gun to her right hand. Her left arm had been grazed by a bullet.

"You're bleeding." Oishi said and took a step towards her.

"I've had worse. Go! Keep moving and don't look back." Jin said and gave him a small shove. The black haired boy took a step back, turned, and grabbed Eiji's wrist as he walked past, pulling the red head behind him.

"Ame-No-Mi-Kumari, Fujin, Haniyasu-Hime, Kagustuchi*. If there is ever a time that I need you, it is now." Jin said as she followed the others out of the forest. They came out into the open area in front of the house. They paused momentarily, but after some urging from Jin, and some soft growls from Tora, everyone moved on.

When they reached the half way point between the house and the forest, ten people stepped out of the shadows, surrounding the group. Jin spun around, and settled into a defensive position. Jin, Ann, Kaimo, Fuji, and Yuta formed a loose defensive circle around their group of friends. Even though there was no sign of weapons on any of the new comers, it was still clear that they were a threat. After about thirty tense seconds of everyone one staring at each other, someone finally stepped out of the shadows.

"Shyam." Jin growled.

"Jenifer Echizen. Though why you are determined to keep that name, I will never understand," said the man. He was tall with shoulder length black hair, dark grey eyes, lightly tanned skin, and a type of beauty that could only be described as ethereal. One of the people who was closest to Jin moved forward and took the gun and extra clips from her. He moved back to his spot.

"That is because you will never understand the meaning of 'family'. Turning on the glamour a little high aren't we?" Jin said as she straightened and put her hands behind her back.

"Do you think it's too much? I didn't want to scare anyone." He responded with false concern. Jin just sneered at him.

"Pleasantries aside. We've come to collect Fuji Syusuke." All of the Seigaku tennis players, and Tchibana, looked at Fuji. The blue eyed boy tensioned slightly. But did no turn his head to look at any one.

"Hell no," Jin said quickly, "He's retired; I filled out his paper work. In order to pull him out of retirement you need my signature. And you're not going to get it."

"Incase you haven't noticed there is a war going on. Fighters are needed."

"Then find them else where. For there are none to be had here," Jin responded softly.

"We don't need your signature and he is coming with us." Shyam said and took a step forward.

"Of course you don't. And no he's not." Jin said.

"You're a lover Jin. Don't throw your life away worthlessly."

"I am the Protector that is my title that is my right. I have never, ever thrown my life away," Jin walked forward, "And let me tell you this, you can kill me, destroy me, but you touch him or my family, when I come back I will let you burn for months on end. And then I will creatively and slowly kill you. And you won't be back," Jin only stopped walking when she was right in front of him, an she said quietly, so only he could hear, "And just so you know, I don't play nice and I don't make threats. Now walk away." Jin turned her back to Shyam, and walked back towards the group.

As she walked a movement out of the corner of her eye caught Jin's attention. She started to react, but it was too late. The sound of metal hitting metal resounded like a thunder clap. Jin closed her eyes. Fuji had managed to block the shrunken with a katana…that he had pulled out of no where. Fuji looked down at the ground, frozen on the spot, and he had an 'oh shit' look on his face. Ann, Yuta and Kaimo widened their stance and prepared to fight. Soft laughter floated on the air behind Jin.

"We win," Shyam said, "Kill them all."

"When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry…" Jin started.

"…show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile." The other four finished with her. Smiles slowly appeared on Jin's, Fuji's, Ann's, Yuta's and Kaimo's faces.

"No," Jin said quietly, with her back still turned, "You lose." And with those words the fight was on.

Jin jumped into the air and twisted her body so she was facing Shyam. Her feet never touched the ground. In a crouched position, she hovered about two inches above the ground for half a second, then she, um …the best way I can think to describe this is to say she is flying right above the ground, but that's not right she's really free falling, but you get the picture that's the important thing.

Fuji sliced a guy from left hip to right shoulder in an up words motion, then bringing his katana back down cut off his head. Fuji reached across his body and made a motion with his hand as though he was grabbing a hold of something. He pulled his hand back and out of no where came …a fan. Fuji looked puzzled as she stared at it –SMACK! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT FOR!?

"She?" TYPO, TYPO, TYPO! Don't smack the writer for no reason, that's not fair, Fuji. But why was it in there?

"I have no idea. I think Jin got bored and reorganized. Hey, Ann is this yours?"

"Oh, I have been looking for that all over the place. Where'd you find it Fuji?"

"In my armory." Fuji said as he opened his hand and the fan floated over to Ann.

"Jin! Where are the throwing daggers?!" Fuji shouted over to her. Jin punched a woman in the face, before she answered.

"North west corner." She responded before she flipped into the air and slammed her heel into the back of some unlucky person's neck. Finally Fuji found what he was looking for and threw it at a shadow that was trying to escape unnoticed.

Ann, Yuta, and Kaimo had already finished off their people. Now all that was left was Shyam. He and Jin stood facing each other. The air around them heated to the point where paper would have caught on fire. Stones, some the size of pennies others the size a fist, flew in between the two.

"Give up already Jin. You can't protect them forever."

"Someone didn't do their homework." Jin said in a sing song voice as she rocked back on to her heels.

"You can't beat me, girl! I have mastery over TWO elements!" Shyam shouted as his hair blew softly in a cool breeze.

"Yep. Really didn't do your homework," Jin said as she waved her hand to the side. The rocks stopped between the two then flew to the side and settled on the ground.

"Water and Air are the only one's who respond to you. All four respond to me." Jin said softly, "That and their kings and queens are my patron guardians." Shyam pushed his hands towards Jin, palms open. A gale of wind came right at Jin. She never moved.

"Be still young one." Jin said into the approaching wind. The wind stopped in front of her and a shape seemed to form from it. It was hard to make out what it was exactly, but the shape of a person could be seen. It floated in front of Jin for a few seconds before sliding over her shoulder and disappearing.

"You can't beat me." Jin said.

"I won't surrender to YOU!"

"Then you die." Jin replied, her voice soft. The air around Shyam burst into flames. He screamed in agony as his flesh burned. Jin stood still, never blinked, and never looked away from the flames in front of her. And after everything was done, not even a pile of ash was left. Jin closed her eyes briefly, before whispering into the ice cold wind.

"Rest in Peace."

*Japanese gods of thunder and wind

*Japanese gods and goddess of water, wind, earth, and fire


End file.
